Mark Pope, Kentucky 
Pope pulled out a signature early win over Duke earlier this week. I was impressed with the shooting and perimeter defense in particular. It's also worth noting that Lousiville, a team constructed very similarly to Kentucky, was blown out by Tennessee in their first high profile match up. That may be a bit more apples to oranges than apples to apples, but it's the closest comparison I can come up with right now. Great start for Pope.

Jaxson Robinson, Kentucky 
https://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/player/_/id/4702528/jaxson-robinson

Not as great for Jax. He had a good game against Bucknell (14 points), but was very poor against Duke (1 point in 27 minutes). You have to believe better days are ahead for him, but Kentucky's depth could turn against him if he doesn't show improvement.

Noah Waterman, Louisville
https://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/player/_/id/4593355/noah-waterman

Speaking of Louisville's loss to Tennessee, Noah was one of the few bright spots. Louisville has only played 2 games so far. 1 was a blow out where Noah scored only 4 points, but against Tennessee, he was 3-6 from 3. The team as a whole was 10-39 from 3 and lost by 22.

Atiki Ally Atiki, New Mexico
https://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/player/_/id/4896973/atiki-ally-atiki

After 2 games where he saw little play, Atiki logged a season high 21 minutes against Texas A&M Corpus Christi. He was impressive in his minutes, going a perfect 4-4 from the field for 9 points, 5 rebounds, 2 assists, and 5 blocks. Whether that was a breakout for him or more a product of a game that allowed New Mexico to go deeper in its bench is yet to be seen.

Marcus Adams Jr., Cal State Northridge
https://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/player/_/id/5142326/marcus-adams-jr

A rough showing in game 1, Marcus has since put together back to back 15 point games, including a 21 point performance against D1 opponent Le Moyne. He is shooting a likely unsustainable 46% from 3 through three games, but I wouldn't be surprised if his near 13 PPG average is maintained through the year.

Tanner Toolson, Utah Valley
https://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/player/_/id/5105461/tanner-toolson

Is this the year Tanner takes a jump? He has looked great through 3 games, shooting 38% from 3, averaging just under 14 points and 6 rebounds through 3 games. UVU only plays 1 power 5 school this year (Stanford), so there wont be many data points for how his play would translate at that level.

Braeden Moore, Oral Roberts
https://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/player/_/id/5177036/braeden-moore

A late RS-freshman addition from 2 seasons ago, the now sophmore received just 4 minutes in a blow out vs a non-D1 program. My guess is he moves down to a lower division of play after the season.

Kahil Fennell, UT Rio Grande Valley
A very good start for Kahil's first season as a head coach. While the team is 2-2 with only 1 D1 win (from today), they have soundly outperformed expectations. a 20 point loss to Nebraska was a 4 point game with 6 minutes to go, and while Kalkbrenner's 49 points was the headline, the Vaquero's were within 5 with 2:30 remaining. If you're looking for a second team to root for with more of an underdog quality, this is one to keep an eye on.