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OKLAHOMA CITY — Wally Judge was an All-America high school basketball player last year at Arlington Country Day in Jacksonville, Fla.
He's one of the highest-profile recruits ever at Kansas State, a 6-foot-9, 250-pound beast everybody wanted.
Wildcats coach Frank Martin brought in four other freshmen, all with pedigree. And you know what this class — thought to be perhaps the best recruiting class the Wildcats have had — has done?
Judge plays 11 minutes and averages 3.1 points and 2.7 rebounds.
Center Jordan Henriquez-Roberts averages 2.2 points and 2.4 rebounds.
Guards Rodney McGruder, Martavious Irving and Nick Russell combine to average 7.5 points.
Yet there isn't anyone who is not excited about what these guys are going to do at Kansas State when they're given more responsibility.
Martin has brought the group along slowly. There's no rush for any to produce big numbers because the Wildcats are a veteran team.
None of the freshmen were going to beat out Jacob Pullen, Denis Clemente, Jamar Samuels, Curtis Kelly, Dominique Sutton or Luis Colon. So they have had no choice other than to be patient.
Judge is the best example. He averaged 18.5 points and 17.1 rebounds last season. His head was filled with all kinds of accolades. People told him how great he was and how dominant he would be at the next level.
Well, the next level isn't as easy as some think. There aren't many John Walls or Michael Beasleys in the world, players who are dominant as freshmen. Judge has had to adjust to an incremental increase in his playing time.
"That young man has not complained one minute of one day,'' Martin said. "He didn't come to Kansas State with his hand out because he wanted a freebie when it comes to playing time. He came here because he knew what we were about. He knew we were going to make him work.
"Has he been happy every day? Probably not. But he's come in and worked every single day and never once has he complained about playing time or 'I could be playing somewhere else' or none of that stuff.''
Judge has flashed his brilliance, especially in a couple of games against Kansas. But what he's trying to do — learn how to play college basketball at the highest level — is more difficult than he or the other K-State freshmen thought it would be.
"It's a different level of competition,'' Judge said. "Every freshman has his ups and downs, no matter who you are.''
The way the K-State freshmen have gotten through their first season is by bonding. They all say they couldn't make it without one another, which is why they live in the same dorm, eat in the same places and take the same classes.
"This is the closest I've ever been with any core group of teammates,'' Judge said. "We do everything together. Everything.''
McGruder, Judge's high school teammate, has been the most productive freshman, averaging 4.1 points. And he's played the most minutes. He showed what he can do during a four-game stretch in January, scoring 41 points in four games against Colorado, Texas, Oklahoma State and Baylor — making 16 of 28 shots.
The 6-foot-4 McGruder hasn't scored more than five points in a game since, another example of the growing pains for a typical freshman.
"It's tough adjusting to a new system in college as a freshman,'' McGruder said. "After four years of high school you're usually pretty immune to what your coach is saying, so this is like starting all over again.''
Playing for Martin, well, let's just say his players will never suffer from immunity in listening to what he has to say.
"He's hard on us because he wants us all to be great,'' McGruder said. "He's sees the potential in all of us.''
Of course, the freshmen have all gone through the innocent hazing that goes with being a first-year college player.
"We kick the ball in the stands during practice and tell them to run and go get it,'' sophomore forward Jamar Samuels said. "And if they don't do it, they have to run sprints after practice.''
The favorite freshman for the veterans to tease, Samuels said, is Irving.
"He's the quiet one, but I think he's probably the funniest guy in the world,'' Samuels said.
The freshmen are most comfortable when they're sticking with themselves. Russell said they love to talk about the possibilities of being Wildcats for four years.
They're not a Fab Five. Their freshman numbers don't back up such a claim.
But perhaps they'll be a Fab Five as sophomores or juniors.
"I've played these guys since Day 1," Martin said. "If guys come in here and do what I ask them to do in practice, and they go to practice and they go to class and do the work, respect the community, respect the campus, then it's my job to figure out how to play them. That's my job.''
Martin gives these five guys a role. Not a starring role yet, but that could be down the road.
"We are the future,'' Judge said. "That's why we stick together so tight. It's going to be a great next couple of years with these guys.''
