Welcome back to the Frosh Watch, our weekly ranking of the five most impressive freshmen in college basketball. CBS Sports has once again teamed up with the United States Basketball Writers Association and its Wayman Tisdale Freshman of the Year Award to present this every-Tuesday feature. Each week we'll start by announcing the national Freshman of the Week honoree. The cycle for FOTW runs Tuesday-Monday.
Week ending Mon., Nov. 21: Anthony Black (6-7, 198, Guard, Duncanville, Texas [Duncanville HS])
This was a toss-up all week until Monday when Anthony Black went out and took the award running away. Black was the catalyst to No. 9 Arkansas' smackdown of Louisville in its 80-54 win in the Maui Invitational, posting a career-high 26 points and six assists to go with a pair of steals and a team-high plus-minus of +27.
Black was the second-highest ranked recruit in Arkansas' No. 2 incoming class behind No. 1 prospect Nick Smith Jr., but with Smith Jr. out nursing a minor injury, Black has emerged as the go-to playmaker for the Hogs on both ends of the floor. His 2.5 steals per game rank second among all major conference freshmen and his assist rate of 19.8% ranks fifth among major conference freshmen who have played at least 75 minutes on the season.