Get ready to learn some new names as the college basketball season tips off this week.

The 2015-16 season was billed as “the year of the senior,” but newcomers figure to take center stage this season with the arrival of a talented and deep freshman class.

Kansas' Josh Jackson, considered the nation's No. 1 prospect in his class according to the 247Sports Composite, is one of many talented freshmen this year. Associated Press/Orlin Wagner

Jerry Meyer, the national director of scouting for 247Sports, calls the incoming freshman class the best since the 2007-08 season, which featured eventual NBA all-stars Derrick Rose, James Harden, Blake Griffin and Kevin Love.

“I would be surprised if this class doesn’t eventually produce multiple NBA all-stars when it’s all said and done,” said Eric Bossi, the director of basketball recruiting at Rivals.

That represents a major change from last season, when experience was emphasized. Four of the five first-team selections on the AP All-America team last year were seniors: Virginia’s Malcolm Brogdon, Oklahoma’s Buddy Hield, North Carolina’s Brice Johnson and Michigan State’s Denzel Valentine.

The starting lineups in last season’s NCAA championship game between Villanova and North Carolina included four seniors, three juniors, two sophomores and only one freshman. The nation’s most celebrated freshman was LSU’s Ben Simmons, who became the No. 1 overall pick in the NBA draft but failed to reach the NCAA Tournament.

This year’s freshman class features much more depth.

As usual, freshmen could make the biggest impact at No. 1 Duke and No. 2 Kentucky.

Duke’s six-man freshman class has four of the nation’s top 15 prospects, according to composite rankings of recruiting websites compiled by 247Sports. That group includes forwards Harry Giles (No. 2) and Jayson Tatum (No. 4), guard Frank Jackson (No. 13) and center Marques Bolden (No. 15).

“As everyone can see, these guys are already talented,” Duke senior forward Amile Jefferson said. “They already have the tools and the gifts that God gave them to be really good basketball players.”

Tatum has a sprained foot and Giles underwent arthroscopic knee surgery last month that kept both players out of Duke’s preseason exhibitions. Bolden is expected to miss Duke’s first two regular-season games because of a leg injury.

Kentucky’s John Calipari landed five of the nation’s top 24 prospects, according to the 247Sports Composite. The new Wildcats include guards De’Aaron Fox (No. 6) and Malik Monk (No. 11) and forwards Edrice “Bam” Adebayo (No. 9), Wenyen Gabriel (No. 14) and Sacha Killeya-Jones (No. 24). They combined for 78 points Sunday in a 156-63 exhibition blowout of NAIA Division II school Asbury.

“His fan base hears every year about that crop of young guys, and about every other year they’ve been as good as advertised,” Auburn Coach Bruce Pearl said. “This is another special group. This could be another Karl Towns-type group.”

Meyer noted Adebayo “is going to bring something to the table that Kentucky was woefully missing last year as far as physical play inside and explosiveness.”

Meyer added it’s “arguably the best” class John Calipari has brought to Kentucky.

The freshman talent is spread around.

No. 3 Kansas has guard Josh Jackson, rated as the nation’s No. 1 prospect in his class by the 247Sports Composite.

No. 16 UCLA has added guard Lonzo Ball (No. 3) and forward T.J. Leaf (No. 18). Florida State has forward Jonathan Isaac (No. 8) and No. 12 Michigan State adds forward Miles Bridges (No. 12).

Ball leads a bumper crop of point guards that also includes Fox, Washington’s Markelle Fultz (No. 5) and North Carolina State’s Dennis Smith Jr. (No. 7).

“In terms of guys who are going to make significant impacts as freshmen, it’s definitely going to be one of the top three or four classes of the last 16-17 years,” Bossi said.

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