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Illinois Basketball: Most productive Illini freshmen since 2000

By Rees Woodcock

CHAMPAIGN, IL - DECEMBER 29: Illinois Fighting Illini guard Trent Frazier (1) takes the ball up the court during the college basketball game between the Florida Atlantic University Owls and the Illinois Fighting Illini on December 29, 2018, at the State Farm Center in Champaign, Illinois. (Photo by Michael Allio/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
CHAMPAIGN, IL - DECEMBER 29: Illinois Fighting Illini guard Trent Frazier (1) takes the ball up the court during the college basketball game between the Florida Atlantic University Owls and the Illinois Fighting Illini on December 29, 2018, at the State Farm Center in Champaign, Illinois. (Photo by Michael Allio/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) /
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Illinois’ Roger Powell (43) puts up a shot. Illinois upset top ranked Wake Forest University 91-73 at the Assembly Hall in Champaign, Il. (Photo by Mark Cowan/Icon SMI/Icon Sport Media via Getty Images)
Illinois’ Roger Powell (43) puts up a shot. Illinois upset top ranked Wake Forest University 91-73 at the Assembly Hall in Champaign, Il. (Photo by Mark Cowan/Icon SMI/Icon Sport Media via Getty Images) /

1. Points per minute (PPM)

Since 2000, fans have seen some great scorers don the Orange and Blue. We have one of those great scorers on the team right now. Trent Frazier scored 399 points during his freshman campaign, which is the most by a freshman since 2000. Does that make him the most productive scoring freshman, though?

Actually, Frazier is the No. 3 freshman since 2000 in points per minute. He is averaging .474 PPM, which is extremely impressive. The leading freshman in this stat, though, is Roger Powell. He averaged .494 PPM during his freshman season. He scored 79 points in just 160 minutes of action. The No. 2 player is Brian Cook who averaged .482 PPM. He put up 287 points in 595 minutes of action.

There are some notable players to make the top 10 on this list, though. Frazier, who is currently a sophomore for the Illini, is the No. 3 player on this list. Right behind him is Ayo Dosunmu at No. 4. Ayo is averaging .457 PPM.

No. 5 on this list is another surprising one but if you look at what he is doing, it isn’t that big of a surprise. Giorgi Bezhanishvili comes in at No. 5 for the Illini. He is averaging .433 PPM this season. He has put up 167 points in 386 minutes of action.

So, out of the top 10 most productive scoring freshmen since 2000, the current Illini roster has three of them. The future is bright in the scoring department.

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