Indiana Basketball: Analyst believes IU freshman to outplay his ranking

The college basketball season is nearly upon us and analysts believe that one Indiana basketball freshman will outplay his high school ranking this season.

It’s not long until the first college basketball game of the 2019-20 season takes place and already there is one Indiana basketball freshman who is making a name for himself.

While most people paying attention to the Indiana program had their sights set on Trayce Jackson-Davis being someone who will have a huge impact on the program this season, it is his freshman counterpart who is raising heads.

Armaan Franklin has come into this season with a lot of momentum and is poised to make an impact that not many people expected when he came out of high school at Cathedral in Indianapolis.

Now, the recruiting analysts wished they would have ranked him higher in their final 2019 class rankings.

Rivals’ analyst Eric Bossi named Franklin as one of 10 freshman who he thinks will outplay their ranking. 

"“Tough shooting guards like Franklin have been crushing it on the college level. He’s ready physically for the Big Ten, which is always a big help and there is opportunity to make an early contribution, which is also beneficial. The Hoosiers coaches were expecting him to be a solid player, but the early word is that he’s surpassing expectations.” Said Bossi of Franklin."

Ranked No. 140 in the Rivals 2019 ranking, Franklin was projected to be a good four-year player, but not someone who would play early minutes for whatever program he chose. Now, it’s looking like he could make that impact, and more.

After performing well, according to reports, in the summer and early parts of fall, Franklin backed that noise up with a 14-point performance, leading the Hoosiers in scoring in the ‘secret scrimmage’ against Marquette last weekend. He showed off his well-rounded game and actually played the last eight or so minutes in the scrimmage as the only guard on the floor.

Despite the injuries to Rob Phinisee and Devonte Green, which caused them to miss the scrimmage, that is still a terrific performance from the freshman guard especially going up against an All-American candidate in Markus Howard and another solid backcourt member in Sacar Anim for the Golden Eagles.

Granted, I don’t believe Franklin will be a guy to put up double-digit points this season, I do expect him to see much more time on the floor than originally thought, and ultimately produce a lot more than what was expected of him just a couple of short months ago.