Louisville basketball is 5-0 and will go head-to-head with Eastern Michigan this evening. The Cardinals have one of the best offenses in the nation, averaging 97.2 points per game, which ranks No. 9. When looking at this roster, it is one of the deepest in the country, but the apparent reason they are so dominant is this backcourt.
The Cards' elite one-two punch of Mikel Brown Jr. and Ryan Conwell is forming to be the best backcourt in college basketball. Conwell is already hearing his name in Player of the Year conversations, and Brown is in Rookie of the Year conversations, as both are averaging near 20 points per game. ESPN recently ranked the top freshmen of the class, and in this stacked class, Brown is sitting in the top five, and right where he belongs.
Related: Mikel Brown Jr. is already on pace to make Louisville history in latest NBA mock drafts
ESPN ranks Mikel Brown Jr. as one of top freshman's
Looking at college basketball so far this season, it is dominated by this elite freshman class. ESPN just ranked these top freshman so far early on in this 2025-26 season, and Brown Jr. came in ranked No. 4 on the list for the Freshman of the Year contenders.
"It was clear from the moment Brown committed that Pat Kelsey was going to hand him the keys to the Cardinals' offense. It has worked so far, with Brown leading a unit that ranks third in the country in scoring at 103 points per game. He has been both a scorer and playmaker for Louisville, averaging 19.3 points and 6.8 assists, both tops among all freshmen. His performance in last week's rivalry win over Kentucky was special -- he carved up the Wildcats' defense and looked generally unguardable, turning it over only once."
Brown has a legitimate shot at this award, as through five games, he is leading this Cardinals team and proving why he is one of the best players in college basketball. The 6-foot-5 guard is averaging 19.8 points, 3.0 rebounds, 6.6 assists, and 1.2 steals, while shooting 44.1 percent from the floor. He is second on the team in points and is leading Louisville in assists.
He has also splashed 11 3-pointers through five games while shooting 32.4 percent from beyond the arc, so while he would like to shoot it at a better rate, he is still showing he can be an elite 3-point shooter. He impacts the game on both offense and defense as he is really beginning to amp up his defense and push the ball in transition. He has also shown he can be clutch for the Cards, as he is unfazed in the final minutes of the game and has delivered in Louisville's two biggest games against Kentucky and Cincinnati.
The Cards' rookie is ranked only behind BYU's AJ Dybartsa, Duke's Cameron Boozer, and North Carolina's Caleb Wilson, and if Louisville has the season they are hoping for, Brown will only climb in these rankings. Brown has already shown through five games that he will be one of the best players in college basketball this season, and he is on pace to be Louisville's first top ten pick in the NBA Draft since Samaki Walker in 1996.