BATON ROUGE — Former LSU basketball players Chris Jackson and Shaquille O’Neal were placed on a list of players with freshman super seasons announced by ESPN.com “Page 2” writer Bomani Jones.
Jackson’s record-setting season of 1988-89 was voted the No. 1 freshman season since freshman eligibility began in the 1972-73 season and O’Neal’s freshman campaign of 1989-90 was voted the eighth best on the list.
Jones compiled his list to give some comparison to the strong freshman seasons that Texas’ Kevin Durant and Ohio State’s Greg Oden are presently having.
O’Neal averaged 13.0 points per game, 12.0 rebounds, 3.6 blocks and hit 57.3 percent of his field goals. Of O’Neal, Jones wrote, “Though he shared the spotlight in Baton Rouge with Chris Jackson and Stanley Roberts, there was never a question of who the most talented player on LSU’s squad was in 1989-90. Though he hadn’t picked up the footwork that made him unstoppable in his prime, he used his brute strength to dominate. O’Neal was the first freshman in NCAA history to rack up two triple-doubles, and he remains one of only two first-year players to perform that feat.”
Of Jackson’s top choice, Jones wrote, “Not since Pete Maravich had the SEC seen a scorer as lethal as Jackson, and never has there been a better scorer as a freshman. The Gulfport, Miss., native was so quick that he rarely needed a move more flashy than a dribble between his legs, which would be followed by either a quick dart into the lane or an unstoppable jump shot. Along with earning first-team All-SEC and first-team All-American honors in 1989, Jackson became the first freshman named SEC Player of the Year. He holds the NCAA record for points per game by a freshman, a mark unlikely to be broken any time soon.”
Jackson averaged 30.2 points per game, 4.1 assists and shot 49 percent from the field.
The complete list is as follows:
1. Chris Jackson, LSU (1989-90)
2. Earvin “Magic” Johnson (1977-78)
3. Ralph Sampson, Virginia (1979-80)
4. Carmelo Anthony, Syracuse (2002-03)
5. Patrick Ewing, Georgetown (1981-82)
6. Wayman Tisdale, Oklahoma (1982-83)
7. Kenny Anderson, Georgia Tech (1989-90)
8. Shaquille O’Neal, LSU (1989-90)
9. Pervis Ellison, Louisville (1985-86)
10. Tyler Hansbrough, North Carolina (2005-06)