Feel free to stick with your position. There have been years when we haven’t gone 8 deep for sure. Especially back in the 5/8 era when early entry first arrived and we didn’t even have 8 top-100 recruits (2000-2002 say hello). In those years, Coach K didn’t extend the bench to 8 because the talent dropoff was too great. When we have had at least 8 guys rated that high in the last 10 years, more often than not we have played the 8th man at least 8 mpg. And O’Connell isn’t a singular exception. I noted three others as well.
In the last 10 years, the 8th man has averaged at least 9 mpg 7 times, with the 9th man sneaking into the 8+ minutes per game a few times too. And that is ignoring that injuries and early entry sapped the rotation/depth in a couple of those 3 off-years. So, I would say that the 8th man playing 8-12 mpg seems like the new norm. And 3 or 4 of those seven 8th men getting 9+ mpg have been freshmen rated in Baker’s range or worse. So, yeah, I am gonna call shenanigans on claiming that O’Connell is just one exception to any sort of rule.
Based on the past 10 years, the evidence suggests relatively strongly (more than 2:1) that the 8th man will play 8+ mpg. And (ignoring roster composition) there is a 30-40% chance that there will be a freshman in the 30+ range averaging 8-12 mpg. I think the likelihood goes up from there when roster construction is considered (i.e., the competition for that 8th spot isn’t as fierce as in some other years, a lot like last year).