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March 4, 2009

Steve Megargee
Rivals.com College Basketball Staff Writer

MORE: Freshman power rankings

Tennessee guard Scotty Hopson has gone through an up-and-down freshman season, but he is playing the best basketball of his young career just as the Volunteers gear up for the postseason.

"We know we have to take care of business at this point," Hopson said. "Every game we play is a must-win situation. We have to go in with that mentality, even in practice."

Tennessee does have a critical game Thursday at South Carolina in its quest to win the Southeastern Conference Eastern Division title, but the Volunteers already are in good position to earn their fourth consecutive NCAA tournament bid.

Hopson has played a role in boosting the Vols' postseason hopes.

The 6-foot-7 guard from Hopkinsville, Ky., collected 21 points, six rebounds and three assists Wednesday in an 81-76 victory over Mississippi State. Hopson set a career high in points and matched his career highs in rebounds and assists.

"We have encouraged Scotty Hopson to be more aggressive, and he has been," Tennessee coach Bruce Pearl said after the game. "He knows we cannot win unless he plays like this. It was the fact our team was struggling that got Hopson going. He has really stepped it up."

Hopson followed up that performance by scoring seven points Sunday in a 79-75 victory at Florida. Hopson made arguably the biggest play of the game when he tipped Erving Walker's attempt at a tying 3-pointer in the final minute.

These last two games show how far Hopson has come since over the past month.

Hopson endured a midseason slump in which he scored in double figures just once during a four-game stretch. That four-game slide started Jan. 24 when Hopson shot 0-for-6 and scored just one point in a 54-52 loss to Memphis.

He has averaged 14 points in his last three outings.

Rivals.com rated Hopson as the No. 2 shooting guard and No. 5 overall prospect in the 2008 recruiting class. Here's a look at how all the former five-star prospects are faring through Monday's games.

Keep in mind this is an update of the progress of freshmen rated as five-star prospects during the recruiting process and isn't a list of the top freshmen in the nation We rate the top freshmen in the nation each week in our College Basketball Power Rankings.

The class of 2008 five stars
Season averages: 9.3 points, 4.8 rebounds, 1.2 blocks, 20.8 minutes
The buzz: Mullens shot a combined 12-of-14 from the field in games against Illinois, Penn State and Purdue, but he still needs to become more of a force on the glass. The 7-footer has pulled down at least 10 rebounds in a game just once all season.
Season averages: 9.0 points, 3.8 rebounds, 3.4 assists, 1.4 steals, 26.7 minutes
The buzz: Holiday shot just 3-for-9 in a 72-68 victory over California, but he otherwise delivered a solid all-around effort with eight points, five rebounds and four assists. Holiday has scored in double figures just once in his past seven games.
Season averages: 12.5 points, 5.5 rebounds, 1.3 assists, 32.9 minutes
The buzz: DeRozan had a career-high four assists Saturday in a 75-63 loss to Stanford. He also shot 6-of-11 from the floor and scored 14 points, though he was only 1-for-5 from the free-throw line.
4. Brandon Jennings, Lottomatica Roma
Season averages: 7.1 points, 1.4 rebounds, 1.3 assists, 1.1 steals, 18.0 minutes
The buzz: Jennings dished out two assists and went scoreless while playing nearly 11 minutes Thursday in a 90-71 loss to Panathinaikos.
Season averages: 9.5 points, 2.5 rebounds, 1.2 assists, 23.2 minutes
The buzz: Hopson scored a career-high 21 points and matched career highs with six rebounds and three assists Wednesday in an 81-76 victory over Mississippi State.
Season averages: 16.7 points, 5.3 rebounds, 3.6 assists, 2.1 steals, 28.1 minutes
The buzz: Evans has fallen into a bit of a shooting slump. He went a combined 9-for-29 last week in victories over UAB and Southern Mississippi. Evans also had a total of six assists and 13 turnovers in those two games.
Season averages: 12.6 points, 8.0 rebounds, 1.6 assists, 1.1 blocks, 1.0 steals, 28.7 minutes
The buzz: After shooting 0-for-6 and scoring just three points Thursday in an 85-78 win over North Carolina State, Aminu bounced back two days later by collecting 12 points and six rebounds in a 70-60 victory over Virginia.
Season averages: 12.7 points, 6.6 rebounds, 2.7 assists, 1.9 steals, 1.4 blocks, 30.8 minutes
The buzz: Monroe's eight-point performance Saturday in a 56-54 victory over Villanova ended a string of 17 consecutive games in which he had scored in double figures.
Season averages: 12.1 points, 4.9 rebounds, 1.2 blocks, 24.9 minutes
The buzz: Samuels compiled 12 points, on 5-for-9 shooting, and seven rebounds Sunday in a 62-58 victory over Marquette. Samuels has shot 67.3 percent (33-of-49) over his past seven games.
Season averages: 15.1 points, 2.1 rebounds, 2.9 assists, 1.2 steals, 30.7 minutes
The buzz: Warren was kept out of the starting lineup Saturday for undisclosed reasons. He went scoreless and played just 12 minutes in the 78-63 victory over Texas Tech after averaging 25 points in the two games leading up to that contest.
Season averages: 9.4 points, 7.1 rebounds, 2.4 assists, 28.4 minutes
The buzz: Ebanks has scored in double figures in seven consecutive games. He also has averaged 9.1 rebounds during that stretch.
Season averages: 8.0 points, 5.0 rebounds, 1.1 assists, 1.7 steals, 1.3 blocks, 26.4 minutes
The buzz: Singleton compiled 10 points Saturday in a 73-66 victory over Clemson, which marked the first time he had scored in double figures since an 18-point effort Dec. 28 in an 82-69 triumph over Western Kentucky.
Season averages: None
The buzz: Majok has received permission to practice from the NCAA Clearinghouse, but he won't be eligible to play until the end of the fall semester in the 2009-10 school year.
Season averages: 8.7 points, 3.3 rebounds, 2.7 assists, 1.1 steals, 24.5 minutes
The buzz: Walker had a solid all-around game Saturday with eight points, six rebounds and a career-high six assists without a single turnover in a 72-65 victory over Notre Dame.
Season averages: 6.3 points, 7.0 rebounds, 1.7 blocks, 19.0 minutes
The buzz: Davis has contributed most with his rebounding this season, but he also became a distributor last weekend. He dished out three assists to go along with five points and four rebounds Saturday in a 104-74 rout of Georgia Tech. Davis had a total of one assist in the five games leading up to the Yellow Jackets' visit.
Season averages: 3.8 points, 1.8 rebounds, 13.9 minutes
The buzz: Williams has averaged 11.0 points, 2.8 rebounds and 1.3 steals in his first four games since moving into the starting lineup.
Season averages: 0.9 points, 1.1 rebounds, 3.8 minutes
The buzz: Walker hasn't played more than six minutes in any game this season.
Season averages: 3.7 points, 2.7 rebounds, 1.5 blocks, 11.9 minutes
The buzz: Jennings went scoreless and played just eight minutes Sunday in a 62-58 victory over Marquette. He had averaged 16 minutes in the 11 contests leading up to Sunday.
Season averages: 11.3 points, 3.4 rebounds, 1.2 assists, 28.2 minutes
The buzz: Buford entered Tuesday's game with Iowa having shot just 36.9 percent (24-of-65) over his last six games, though he still had scored in double figures in four of those contests.
Season averages: 3.5 points, 2.7 rebounds, 11.7 minutes
The buzz: Woods had one of most productive ACC games of the season Saturday when he collected six points and matched a career high with six rebounds in a 70-60 victory over Virginia.
Season averages: 10.0 points, 7.4 rebounds, 1.6 blocks, 1.0 steals, 24.4 minutes
The buzz: Green had a career-high four assists to go along with nine points and four rebounds Saturday in a 90-69 victory over Ole Miss.
Season averages: 10.7 points, 6.1 rebounds, 22.3 minutes
The buzz: Gates delivered the best performance of his young career Thursday when he compiled 22 points and 11 rebounds in a 65-61 victory over West Virginia.
Season averages: 3.0 points, 2.0 rebounds, 12.0 minutes
The buzz: Jones hasn't scored in five consecutive games. He has shot 0-for-7 during that stretch.
Season averages: 6.1 points, 5.5 rebounds, 18.1 minutes
The buzz: Roe followed up a 16-point performance against Iowa by collecting 10 points, seven rebounds and three steals Sunday in a 74-66 triumph over Illinois.
Season averages: 2.6 points, 1.1 rebounds, 5.8 minutes
The buzz: Morgan hasn't played in any of the Bruins' last six games.

Steve Megargee is a national writer for Rivals.com. He can be reached at smegargee@rivals.com.




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