Rise of the Sophomore: 2022 NBA Draft

The void left by some disappointing one-and-does has been filled by a large sampling of second-year college players

The high-school class of 2021 has not lived up to the hype. While initially thought of as a weaker class in terms of top-end talent, several of the top names have disappointed early in their college careers. Meanwhile, very few freshmen have stepped up to fill the void left with one-and-done talent.

What we are seeing instead is a great group of sophomores taking advantage of the opportunity and putting themselves squarely into first-round conversations. There are more second-year players in this range than we’ve seen in the last decade. Thus far, the 2022 draft is marked by… the rise of the sophomore.