The Alligator Awards continue this week, with the fourth award being for "Best Freshman." Editor-in-chief Jordan McPherson and staff writer Ian Cohen join alligatorSports editors Graham Hall, Luis Torres and Graham Hack in a roundtable discussion to debate the five nominees. Debates will go in alphabetical order by the writer’s last name.
Cohen: Alhassan Arrives
Of all the Florida freshmen who had outstanding rookie seasons last year, one stands out above the rest — and not just because she’s 6-foot-4.
Rhamat Alhassan had barely played two years of high school volleyball before being thrown into the starting rotation as UF’s premier middle blocker last season. Coach Mary Wise toned down the expectations early, saying she would be glad if Alhassan managed to adjust to the speed of the college game by the end of her first season.
Alhassan had that mastered in less than a month.
Seven games into her rookie campaign, Alhassan became the first freshman since 2012 to be named AVCA National Volleyball Player of the Week. Her 38-inch vertical helped her average a team-leading 1.32 blocks per set and a nation-leading .458 hitting percentage.
But Alhassan’s individual accolades — including being named the 2014 Southeastern Conference Freshman of the Year — aren’t the only factors that make her UF’s most outstanding freshman.
She helped lead UF back to the NCAA Tournament’s Elite Eight for the first time since 2011, averaging over nine kills and five blocks per game along the way.
Alhassan also managed to fill the void left by two-time All-American middle blocker and Gainesville native Chloe Mann. A daunting task even for veteran blocker Simone Antwi, let alone a freshman in her third year playing the sport.
With such little playing experience, Alhassan surpassed all expectations in her first year, making her the obvious choice to be named Florida’s top freshman.
Hack: Chiozza Displays Maturity
Chris Chiozza’s stats weren’t anything to write home about last season.
He averaged 3.9 points per game at a .389 shooting percentage, along with 2.2 assists and rebounds a contest.
But those numbers only tell part of the story.
Whenever I watched the freshman play last season, he always stood out.
Whether he was making the pass before the assist, setting up the offense, playing fundamentally sound defense, or getting a key steal, he always made smart plays. Often, he just avoided the bad play, something starting sophomore Kasey Hill seemed unable to do at times.
Such plays are often difficult to quantify with traditional numbers, so I took a look at some advanced metrics to help, specifically Florida’s box plus/minus stats.
Box plus/minus takes into account a player’s entire box score coupled with the team’s performance to estimate that player’s performance per 100 possessions relative to an average — in this case an average college basketball player on an average team.
Of the players who competed in at least 5 games, Chiozza ranks fifth on the team with a 5.3. For comparison, Hill ranked 10th with a 1.2.
In other words, Chiozza’s entire body of work on the court positively affected his team more than guys like Eli Carter, Alex Murphy and Hill.
Hall: Schwarz Stands Out
JJ Schwarz did things freshmen aren’t supposed to be capable of.
The Palm Beach Gardens native was a revelation for Florida’s baseball team this season, hitting 18 home runs – the most in the country by a freshman, and tied for fourth most in the nation – and leading the Gators in RBIs with 73.
While most know him for hitting four home runs against Stetson on April 7, Schwarz is more than just a big bat. Despite his hitting prowess, he doesn’t get selfish with his at-bats.
Schwarz is patient enough to wait for the right pitch to send over the fences rather than grow anxious at the plate – a crucial component in becoming a dominant hitter.
Following the victory over Stetson, Schwarz would hit nine more home runs over Florida’s next 36 games, and his batting average climbed from .304 to .332 by the end of the season.
Although the Gators didn’t walk away with the national championship, Schwarz scooped up the accolades. He was named the Louisville Slugger Co-2015 Freshman of the Year, the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association Freshman Hitter of the Year, and a first-team Freshman All-American by D1Baseball.
I think he can add Best UF Freshman to that list.
McPherson: McMurtry Conquers Adversity
Alex McMurtry should not have performed as well as she did last season.
On a good day early in the season, the Midlothian, Virginia, native participated in only about a quarter of practice while recovering from a back injury.
But even with her training limited, the freshman provided the UF gymnastics team with a consistent athlete in its vault, bars and beam lineups from start to finish.
After debuting with a 9.850 on vault in UF's season-opener against Ball State, McMurtry went on to stick a perfect 10 on the apparatus against Auburn, becoming the fastest in UF history to accomplish the feat. She also posted a 9.925 (bars) and 9.85 (beam) at the same meet.
At the final meet of her freshman season, she notched a career-best 9.950 on bars to seal Florida’s third-consecutive national title.
And in the 11 meets spaced between those two monumental accomplishments, McMurtry stayed strong.
Overall, McMurtry scored at least a 9.800 — a score normally viewed as the floor for top-notch collegiate gymnasts — on all but three of 40 events during the season.
Your typical freshman doesn’t have that type of outing every week.
But then again, McMurtry is anything but typical.
Torres: Austin Handles the Competition
All of you guys make great cases for the best freshman, but none of them compare to what Brooke Austin did for the women’s tennis team. Austin was the best of the three freshmen on the team, and the team's best player.
On a team with no seniors and the lone upperclassmen being a junior (Brianna Morgan), coach Roland Thornqvist trusted Austin at the No. 1 court position in singles and doubles play right from the start of the season.
It’s the position where Austin faced some of the best players in the country. And she didn't just hold her own on the No. 1 court — she excelled. Austin finished the season with a 19-3 dual singles record (10-2 Southeastern Conference) as the No. 1 player.
Her 19 dual singles wins and her 16 dual doubles wins on the court with partner Kourtney Keegan led the team. Austin’s performance throughout the season would not go unnoticed as she captured every single accolade imaginable.
The Indianapolis, Indiana, native was named SEC Freshman of the Year and SEC Player of the Year — becoming the first player in program history to win both awards in her freshman season — to go along with numerous First Team awards, like All-SEC, All-SEC Freshman and All-SEC Tournament. And she finished off her stellar year by being ranked as the No. 1 player in singles play in the Southeast Region by the ITA.
Not a bad season for the best freshman in program history.
Which UF freshman was the best? Vote online at alligator.org/sports. All results will be revealed in our New Student Edition on Aug. 17.
Rhamat Alhassan (1) swings for a kill attempt during Florida's 3-0 win against Missouri on Oct. 24 in the O'Connell Center.
