Nassir Little is just fine, everybody. Despite his struggles in West Raleigh on Tuesday night, the Florida native is putting together a decent— if statistically disappointing and occasionally frustrating— freshman season.
In the modern era of college basketball, where freshmen rule the headlines, the stat sheets, and, most importantly, the ESPN hype machine, it is easy to look at his relatively modest numbers and lean on the “Roy Williams can’t play with one-and-done talent” narrative.
Except that narrative is ludicrous.
College basketball was a little bit different in the 2004-05 season. Fresh off a veteran-laden Connecticut team featuring juniors Ben Gordon and Emeka Okafor, senior Tariek Brown, and some well-placed underclassman talent such as Charlie Villanueva, Josh Boone, and Rashad Anderson winning the national title, there was a clear template to winning in college basketball: assemble a superstar veteran core, supplement with high-end freshman talent.