There won’t be any sort of gradual introduction into college basketball for Western Kentucky’s freshmen. The Hilltoppers’ youngest players are going to be on the court right away, and they’re going to be called upon to produce.

WKU’s thin roster this season will feature a maximum of nine scholarship players eligible to play during the 2017-18 campaign. At least three players making up the Toppers’ rotation of scholarship players will be freshmen – Taveion Hollingsworth, Marek Nelson and Jake Ohmer.

A fourth scholarship freshman, Josh Anderson, was still awaiting NCAA clearance to play as of Tuesday afternoon. College sports’ governing body is reviewing the guard’s high school grades.

Slim numbers mean coach Rick Stansbury will need every available player this season to contribute. That includes the freshmen, who Nelson said are enjoying the chance to play right away.

“We knew it was going to be like that going in,” the forward Nelson said. “Coach was going to put us in a position to make plays and earn our time. Obviously being low on numbers, it kind of forces us into that situation.

“We know there’s no replacing experience. The earlier we’re able to get minutes and the more we’re able to learn by being on the court, the better we’ll be in the future as well.”

WKU’s three available freshmen all showed during two exhibition games last week why Stansbury has praised them since they signed with the Hilltoppers.

Hollingsworth, Nelson and Ohmer combined to score 88 points in two exhibition contests – an Oct. 29 charity scrimmage at fellow Division I school Samford and a Nov. 1 home matchup with NAIA program Campbellsville. WKU won the first of those contests 78-64 against the Bulldogs, and the second 92-51 against the Tigers.

More impressive than the total scoring was the efficiency that Hollingsworth, Nelson and Ohmer displayed. The trio combined to shoot 36-of-55 (65.5 percent), post a positive assist-to-turnover ratio (12 to 9) and grab 16 steals – including seven that Hollingsworth tallied against Campbellsville alone.

Graduate senior guard Darius Thompson, one of the team’s few veterans, said he likes the poise his younger teammates have shown.

“They just go out there and play their games,” Thompson said. “They’re not thinking too much. That’s a huge thing with basketball. Sometimes you can overthink and mess yourself up.

“Those guys are just going out there and giving it their all. They’re being as aggressive as they can be, shooting every shot. It’s good for them to see that confidence level so high right now. Hopefully they can continue it on to the season.”

Hollingsworth led WKU in scoring across both scrimmages last week, scoring 19 points against Samford and 20 against Campbellsville.

The 6-foot-2 guard picked up from where he left off at the end of his high school career. He scored 2,495 points during his time at Paul Laurence Dunbar High School, becoming the all-time leading scorer in Lexington boys’ basketball history.

Hollingsworth was named Kentucky’s 2017 Mr. Basketball and Stansbury has repeatedly said if his team didn’t sign him last fall, more colleges would’ve been competing for his services during the spring signing period.

Stansbury said Hollingsworth will be a “terrific player in time – terrific” and said the guard has adjusted to life in college basketball off the court well too.

“He’s been here since June and to my knowledge, I don’t think he’s missed a class, a study table, been late for breakfast or anything like that,” Stansbury said. “That’s an indicator of what a young man’s made up of and what he’s going to become.”

The other in-state Class of 2017 addition for the Hilltoppers was Ohmer, a 6-1 guard from Taylor Mill.

Ohmer had verbally committed to an NAIA school by the time Stansbury saw him in action in March at the Kentucky state tournament. The Scott High School star scored 106 points across three state tourney games and by the end of the weekend, he’d been offered and accepted a scholarship offer from Stansbury.

Ohmer will likely be WKU’s top 3-point threat this season. He went a combined 7-of-16 from behind the arc against Samford and Campbellsville.

“My role is just to come in and play hard, play defense and shoot the ball – try to do anything to help the team,” Ohmer said.

Nelson brings a different dimension as an athletic wing capable of highlight-reel plays at the rim.

The 6-7 forward’s dunking skills were on display in August during the team’s preseason trip to Costa Rica. Shortly after a scuffle between WKU and the Costa Rican national team, Nelson went down the middle of the lane, nearly hurdled a Costa Rican defender and threw a tomahawk jam in his face – staring the player down afterward for good measure.

Nelson put on a show for the home crowd against Campbellsville, converting three lobs from Thompson into alley-oop dunks. The Plano, Texas, native shot a combined 9-of-10 in WKU’s two exhibitions last week.

Forward Dwight Coleby referred to Nelson as “a high flyer” who’s “always trying to dunk on somebody.”

Stansbury and WKU fended off late interest from Memphis and Texas this spring to sign Nelson, who finished his prep career last year at Sunrise Christian Academy in Wichita, Kan.

“Marek, he’s one of those guys that’s an off-the-chart kid, off-the-chart student, work ethic, attitude,” Stansbury said. “As he continues to get better shooting, all that other stuff’s in place.”

The missing piece with that group, at least as of press time, is the 6-6 guard Anderson. The athletic wing signed last fall with WKU and was a consensus four-star recruit coming out of Madison Prep Academy in his native Baton Rouge, La.

Anderson has been able to practice with the Hilltoppers during the lead-up to the season. But he’s been unable to participate in games as the NCAA sorts through questions concerning his academics.

WKU, as of Tuesday, had not been given a timetable for when the NCAA would make a final ruling on Anderson’s eligibility.

“Josh brings us a different type of athlete out there,” Stansbury said.

With or without Anderson, the Hilltoppers will need contributions this season from their freshmen. Hollingsworth, Nelson and Ohmer are all poised to play big minutes for a WKU team that hopes to contend for its first Conference USA title.

“Those freshmen, I’m really pleased with them,” Stansbury said. “I see progress every day with them.

“And they’re high-quality people, high character off the court. Those kinds of guys will keep getting better too.”