I remember TD's first exhibition game. He didn't look great. He got his hands on a lot of rebounds but fumbled quite a few. Obviously, it must have been nerves.
He averaged almost 10 PPG a game as a freshman but a lot of it was on putbacks and dunks. There were many times he'd get it on the blocks and pass it right out, not yet confident in his post game.
The first time he caused me to say, "holy shit!" was when, as a freshman, he pinned Sharon Wright against the backboard nonchalantly. His defense and shotblocking were impressive right out of the gate. The ability to block shots and keep it in bounds. To contest so many opportunities and foul so rarely. Even his fouls could be argued because he would get so much hand on the ball. There were very few times (and, to be fair, Newton was one on a couple occasions) where a center would go 1:1 with TD and score against him. He was that dominant.
Randolph made the national team in 94 after TD's freshman year and ended up getting injured. For some reason, Tim ended up being his replacement. It seemed odd to replace a G with a C, especially since Tim wasn't considered that caliber a player yet. I remember watching that national team play against Dream Team 2 (?) and seeing TD get the ball in the post and, rather than pass it right out as he had done so much that year, he executed a perfect drop step and hook shot. Against an NBA player. I think he also blocked Shaq or Alonzo Mourning at the rim in that game. The progress he had made just seemed incredible.
By the time his sophomore season came around, he was making confident post moves with regularity. Obviously, Randolph was the #1 option that year but TD was so efficient in the chances that he got. As most know, by the time the season ended, TD was predicted to be the #1 draft pick if he left early as a sophomore.
My virtual assistant didn't have a chance to fact check my memory here so I hope the details are somewhat accurate.