Baylor coach Scott Drew has the luxury of having not one, but two elite first-year players on his roster. 

Ja'Kobe Walter has been one of the focal points of this entire class. Walter has been ranked near the top of Frosh Watch since its inception at the start of the season. Walter's teammate, Yves Missi, is making his case to be ranked, too. The 7-foot big man is averaging 10.3 points and 6.2 rebounds and despite some recent struggles by his team, he is coming off the best game of his college career. 

Missi scored 25 points and grabbed nine rebounds in a 105-102 triple-overtime loss to TCU on Saturday, but after nearly recording his fifth career double-double, he seems to be coming on at the right time after seeing his minutes fluctuate throughout the season. 

Baylor dropped three spots to No. 18 in the latest AP Top 25 poll after its third consecutive loss and faces Big 12 newcomer UCF later this week before a four-game gauntlet that includes games against Iowa State, Texas Tech, Kansas and Oklahoma. If the Bears want to get back on track, they may need Missi to give them a spark.

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Let's jump into our rankings and get to our CBS Sports/USBWA Freshman of the Week for the the 2023-24 college basketball season

Freshman of the Week: Yves Missi, Baylor

Welcome back to the Frosh Watch, our weekly ranking of the five most impressive freshmen in college basketball. CBS Sports has once again teamed up with the United States Basketball Writers Association and its Wayman Tisdale Freshman of the Year Award to present this every-Tuesday feature. Each week we'll start by announcing the national Freshman of the Week honoree. The cycle for FOTW runs Tuesday-Monday.

The former No. 42 overall player and the sixth-ranked center in the 2023 recruiting cycle by 247Sports wasn't supposed to even be playing college basketball this season. Missi elected to reclassify from the 2024 recruiting class to join the Bears for the 2023-24 season. Missi shined at Prolific Prep in Napa, California, and elected to enroll at Baylor a year early. It's paid off.

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The Cameroon native certainly has seen his draft stock rise in recent weeks. Missi has eight games this season of at least eight rebounds. Despite only averaging 21.7 minutes per game this season, he played a season-high 42 minutes vs. the Horned Frogs. Missi is shooting an eye-popping 64.3% from the floor on just over six attempts per game. 

Frosh Watch: Top 10 freshman rankings

1. PJ Haggerty, Tulsa

Stats: 19.3 PPG | 4.7 RPG | 3.5 APG | 47.8% FG

The leading scorer in this class continues to put up big numbers. Haggerty struggled in the first half against Rice last weekend but responded by scoring 19 of his 21 points in the final 20 minutes of regulation to seal an 85-83 win. Haggerty added five rebounds, four assists and a steal in the thrilling victory. Haggerty has 10 games with 20+ points. He deserves to hold the top spot ... for now. Last week: 1

2. Myles Rice, Washington State

Stats: 15.6 PPG | 3.6 APG | 2.5 RPG

The leader in the clubhouse to win Pac-12 Freshman of the Year continues to give Washington State hope about a potential NCAA Tournament berth. The Cougars are coming off back-to-back crucial conference wins over Utah and Colorado to put themselves into position to make the Big Dance by closing the season strong. Rice stuffed the stat sheet against the Utes with 10 points, seven rebounds and six assists and scored 17 points against Colorado. As I've said before, Rice is one of the best stories in college basketball for what he had to overcome to get to this point. Last week: 4

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3. Ja'Kobe Walter, Baylor

Stats: 15.2 PPG | 4.7 RPG | 1.2 SPG

Walter was clutch against TCU. The Baylor star drained a 3-pointer at the end of the first overtime to send the game into double OT. Walter finished the game with 15 points, seven rebounds and five assists in 40 minutes of action. He didn't shoot the ball particularly well and finished 2 of 12 from the floor and 2 of 9 from distance. Baylor is currently on a three-game skid and will need to turn things around fast to get back on track toward Big 12 title contention. Last week: 2

4. Reed Sheppard, Kentucky

Stats: 11.5 PPG | 4.1 RPG | 4.1 APG | 54.3% FG

Sheppard had arguably the worst game of his college career in last week's 79-62 loss to South Carolina. The Kentucky star guard logged a season-low 15 minutes and finished with three points. Sheppard did have a nice bounce-back performance in a 63-57 win over Arkansas by recording a typical Reed Sheppard game with 14 points, five assists, four rebounds and four steals. Sheppard was the top-ranked player on this list for a few weeks and could certainly get back there with a big outing against No. 5 Tennessee on Saturday. Last week: 3

5. Isaiah Collier, USC

Stats: 15.4 PPG | 4.1 APG  | 2.6 RPG | 50.6% FG

There isn't much new information to report or say about Collier. He remains out because of a hand injury and the outlook on USC's season continues to look bleak without him in the fold. Collier remains a prime candidate to be an NBA Draft lottery selection this summer, but he will remain on the sidelines for now. He had too good of a season to drop him out of these rankings completely — hence why he hasn't dropped out. Last week: 5

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6. Jared McCain, Duke

Stats: 12.5 PPG | 3.9 RPG | 41.6% 3FG

McCain was the only player on this list in action Monday and he certainly made an impression on the glass. The Duke guard finished with 10 rebounds in a 77-67 win over Virginia Tech for his third double-digit rebound performance of the season. McCain dropped 21 points days prior in a last-second win over Clemson to help the Blue Devils continue their hot streak. Next time McCain will be in action? Saturday against rival North Carolina on the road. Last week: 8

7. Rob Dillingham, Kentucky

Stats: 13.9 PPG | 3.8 APG | 3.1 RPG

Dillingham dropped 16 points in 26 minutes against South Carolina, but missed the Wildcats' next game due to a stomach bug. His status for Kentucky's game Wednesday against Florida remains unclear and his team certainly missed his explosiveness against Arkansas. Dillingham is a true game-changer and is in a race with some of his fellow teammates for SEC Freshman of the Year. Last week: 6

8. Cody Williams, Colorado

Stats: 14.7 PPG | 3.7 RPG  | 1.9 APG | 58.9% FG

The potential future No. 1 NBA Draft pick is coming off a rough outing against Washington State. Williams finished the game 0 for 4 from the floor with six points and six assists in a loss to the Cougars. That loss snapped a four-game win streak and Colorado will have to recover fast in order to remain off the bubble. Colorado has a key game against future Big 12 foe Utah this weekend. Last week: 9

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9. D.J Wagner, Kentucky

Stats: 12.0 PPG | 3.7 APG | 1.9 RPG

After scoring in double figures in six of his last six games, Wagner recorded back-to-back single-digit performances. Wagner scored four points in 30 minutes against South Carolina — tying his lowest scoring output of the season — and racked up eight points in 35 minutes days later. Wagner provides the Wildcats with a steady presence and will be relied on heavily moving forward. Last week: 7

10. Malik Mack, Harvard

Stats: 18.8 PPG | 4.6 APG | 4.1 RPG

Mack had his first 20-point outing in nearly two months in a 78-65 loss to Yale on Saturday. The Harvard star scored 20 points and added six assists and three rebounds. Harvard sits at 10-7 overall and 1-3 in Ivy League play. Last week: 10

Others considered: UConn's Stephon Castle, UCLA's Sebastian Mack, Mississippi State's Josh Hubbard, Pitt's Carlton Carrington, Iowa State's Milan Momcilovic, Oregon's Jackson Shelstad, Baylor's Yves Missi, North Carolina's Elliot Cadeau and Notre Dame's Markus Burton.

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