After another long offseason of projections and prognostications, there is finally about a month of data and, for most teams, roughly one-third of the season’s games upon which to judge this year’s rookie class.

Heading into the season, the two most hyped classes were Harvard and Princeton, as a member of either of those two freshman classes earned Preseason Rookie of the Year honors in almost every publication.

To be considered for this analysis, rookies had to have appeared in at least 10 percent of their respective team’s minutes, and each team had at least one freshman that cleared that floor.

The Workhorses

Brown

The Preseason Story: All eyes were on Tucker Halpern and Andrew McCarthy as the primary contributors from a middle-of-the-pack Ivy recruiting class. Halpern and McCarthy were expected to be likely rotation players, while Matt Sullivan was only mentioned as a potential candidate for playing time due to a relatively weak returning backcourt.

The Reality: Sullivan has been a huge contributor leading all freshmen in percentage of minutes (75 percent) played by a wide margin and ranks second in points produced per game. But he’s still not terribly active on the offensive end, using just 17.4 percent of possessions, and is a huge defensive liability, ranking second worst in defensive stop percentage among qualifying rookies.

McCarthy has played in just over half of Brown’s minutes, but is an offensive workhorse when on the floor, using 25 percent of the team’s possessions. He’s only marginally more efficient than Sullivan on the offensive end, but ranks in the middle of the pack in stop percentage, making him a bit more valuable than Sullivan to this point.

Halpern ranks ninth of 17 qualifying rookies in minutes played, but third in points produced per game, due to his eye popping 116 offensive rating. His defensive rating is marginally worse than McCarthy’s, but due to his strong offensive performance, he has actually been the most efficient Brown rookie to this point.

The Grade: A-

Harvard

The Preseason Story: Rated by most as the league’s best incoming class, the expectations were high, especially since the Crimson had plenty of playing time to distribute to its rookies. Kyle Casey and Brandyn Curry each received some Preseason Rookie of the Year nods, while Christian Webster and Dee Giger were both mention as having rotation-cracking potential.

The Reality: Over time, Casey will likely prove the pundits right as the best player from Harvard’s 2009 Class, but for the moment, two major flaws are holding him back. Casey is turning the ball over on 32 percent of his possessions, which effectively masks his rookie best 61 percent EFG, and is committing 8.3 fouls per 40 minutes or five fouls every 24 minutes, which has drastically reduced his playing time. When he has been able to stay on the floor, though, he’s been effective, combining a fourth-best floor percentage and offensive rating among rookies with a slightly below-average stop percentage on defensive.

Curry and Webster have eerily similar stat lines to this point, each posting 52 percent of minutes played, 95 offensive ratings and 50 and 49 defensive stop percentages, respectively. Curry has been the better shooter at 52 percent EFG, but leads the league in turnovers for a freshman with one on 36 percent of his possessions. Webster is shooting a below-average 44 percent EFG, but is turning the ball over on just 25 percent of his possessions.

Giger started out strong, but has faded rapidly. His 38 percent floor percentage and 33 percent stop percentage are third and fourth worst, respectively, among the 17 qualifying rookies. Unless he picks up the effort defensively, he will likely lose some minutes to sophomore Max Kenyi, when he returns from injury.

The Grade: B+

Princeton

The Preseason Story: With the highly-publicized Princeton lineage, the strong Gonzaga pedigree and the praise of a variety of scouting agencies, Ian Hummer was cast by some as the top member of the Ivy recruiting class. Add to that Will Barrett, who many felt was a quality mid-major level recruit, and most felt that the Tigers class would give the Crimson’s a run for its money.

The Reality: It took Hummer awhile to get his bearings in the college game offensively, but over the past few games, he has turned himself into one of the top offensive players in the class. His shooting has still been just average, but he’s incredibly stingy with turnovers and gets to the line at the third highest rate of any freshman, which has him fourth in offensive rating and the highest of logging as many minutes and possessions as he has.

Barrett has struggled mightily on the offensive end with the fourth-worst offensive rating among rookies but actually leads all freshmen in stop percentage. Second on that list is Hummer, making this duo a stalwart defensive pair. But for Barrett to see more minutes as the season carries on, he has to be able to pull his weight on the offensive end of the floor.

The Grade: B

Giving You Minutes

Columbia

The Preseason Story: With its strong returning backcourt and relatively weak frontcourt, Lions fans expected more out of recruited forwards Mark Cisco and John Daniels than they did out of the slightly higher touted guard Brian Barbour. After Max Craig went down with a preseason injury, the frontcourt need became more pronouced, putting more pressure on Cisco and Daniels to contribute off the bat.

The Reality: Daniels has become a very important stabilizing force on the defensive end, ranking second among freshmen in defensive rebounding percentage and third in stop percentage. He fouls a bit too much (6.8 fouls per 40 minutes), which has limited his minutes to just 41 percent of game action. His turnover problems on offense have inhibited his efficiency on that end of the floor, but he has still proven to be a very solid frontcourt piece to this point.

Cisco has also performed admirably to fill the frontcourt need and likely deserves more minutes and touches. His defense has been average, but on the offensive end he has been incredible, ranking second among rookies in offensive rebound percentage, fourth in shooting percentage and tops in offensive rating. He has only played 25 percent of the team’s minutes to this point, but that should increase dramatically if he keeps up that level of play.

The Grade: B

A Consolation Prize Grab Bag

Dartmouth

The Preseason Story: No one really knew what to expect from the Dartmouth incoming class, but most ratings agencies had either Mbiyimoh Ghogomu or Garrett Brown as the players to watch. With the Big Green losing Alex Barnett to graduation, most expected that a rookie guard or wing player would step up and earn some playing time, while the rest of the class would be limited to rotation minutes at best.

The Reality: Forward Matt LaBove has seen the most action for the Big Green, providing a solid defensive interior presence. He leads all rookies in defensive rebounding and is seventh in stop percentage. Offensively, however, he is non-existent, posting the second worst EFG (31 percent) among freshmen and the second worst offensive rating.

In limited action, guard R.J. Griffin has been spectacular offensively (third best EFG percent and lowest turnover percent) for a Dartmouth team that desperately needs it. His defense ranks among the bottom five for rookies, but the Big Green is pretty staunch on defense, so it might be worth it for him to see some more minutes for his offensive skills alone.

The Grade: C+

Yale

The Preseason Story: Each of the three guards, Austin Morgan, Sam Martin and Michael Grace, came to Yale with some buzz from the recruiting trail, but the expectations for an instant impact fell on Grace. Grace was often mentioned with fellow North Carolina high school star and Harvard recruit Brandyn Curry as a player that could get instant playing time in the Ivy League. Morgan and Martin were expected to battle for rotation minutes in a relatively weak backcourt.

The Reality: Grace certainly got the minutes, logging 37 percent thus far, but has yet to get anything going offensively, posting a woeful 27 percent EFG. His turnover rate of one per 35 percent of his possessions is second-worst among rookies. His defensive efforts haven’t been much better, as his stop percentage is third-worst among freshmen.

Morgan hasn’t been much better on the offensive end in limited action, but defensively he ranks second among rookies in steals and commits the second-fewest fouls per 40 minutes. If he can connect more frequently from long range on the offensive end, his defensive abilities should allow him to see more action.

The Grade: C-

The Incompletes

Cornell

The Preseason Story: Despite being one of the weaker entering classes coming into the season, the Big Red’s Errick Peck still garnered enough attention for the entire class, even earning mention among the league’s Rookie of the Year candidates. For Cornell, the perceived weakness in the freshman class didn’t matter all that much as the Big Red had two big pieces joining the squad via transfer and when combined with an already strong returning group, there wasn’t much room for immediate playing time anyway.

The Reality: Thus far, Peck is the only freshman to get any real minutes on the floor (18 percent of total minutes played) and has proven to be a dominant force, especially on the offensive glass – his 22 percent offensive rebounding rate leads all freshmen. While he may not see many minutes, Peck is not shy about using possessions while he’s on the floor, leading all freshmen in percentage of possessions used (35.3 percent) and shots taken (38.4 percent). His 42 percent floor percentage and 93 offensive rating won’t get it done on a team with the 24th best offense in the nation.

The Grade: Inc.

Penn

The Preseason Story: Neither of the Quakers’ two primary recruiting pieces was expected to start out of the gate, but both guard Carson Sullivan and forward Brian Fitzpatrick were tabbed as likely rotation players who could step up in the event of injuries. Sullivan was a prized sharpshooter who was expected to keep Penn from going a third-consecutive year with a three-point shooting percentage below 32 percent. Fitzpatrick hailed from Ivy League recruit factory Northfield Mount Hermon and was supposed to have a refined enough inside-out game to battle for minutes immediately.

The Reality: The biggest surprise among the freshman class might be a walk-on, Malcolm Washington, though he hasn’t played a high enough percentage of minutes to qualify for this analysis. Neither has Sullivan, as the Quakers have bled as many minutes as possible out of backcourt starters Zack Rosen (90 percent), Rob Belcore (79 percent) and Darren Smith (71 percent).

That leaves Fitzpatrick as the only freshman to have logged more than 10 percent of his team’s minutes (with 13 percent). He has proven to be an effective offensive player in limited time, shooting 58 percent EFG, which places second among rookies. He also limits his turnovers and grabs a decent amount of offensive rebounds. His defensive impact, however, has been limited to this point.

The Grade: Inc.