As teams are being eliminated from the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament, the speculation has increased as to which players are going to declare for this June’s NBA Draft. There wont be any pondering for Creighton University forward Doug McDermott as far as leaving school early due to the fact that he is a senior. But for some others the questions have begun.
After last week’s shocking loss in the second round of the NCAA Tournament to Mercer University, Duke University freshman forward Jabari Parker is expected to declare for the NBA Draft. In his first season at Duke, Parker averaged 19.1 points and 8.7 rebounds per game which was highlighted by him scoring over 20 points in the first seven games of the season.
Kansas University freshman guard Andrew Wiggins averaged 17.1 points per game this season which was highlighted by him dropping 22 points and 8 rebounds on Parker and Duke earlier in the campaign. Wiggins earned the Big 12 Conference’s Freshman of the Year honors, but in Kansas’ loss in the NCAA Tournament this past Sunday to Stanford University, Wiggins was limited to just 4 points on 1-of-6 shooting from the field. Fellow Kansas freshman in center Joel Embiid averaged 11.2 points and 8.1 rebounds per game this season, but a back injury unofficially ended his season on March 1.
University of Kentucky freshman forward Julius Randle has averaged 15.1 points and 10.6 rebounds per game this season and he has been a big part of Kentucky’s run in this year’s NCAA Tournament. In two games so far in the tournament, Randle has averaged 16.0 points and 12.5 rebounds as he helped Kentucky knock off the previously undefeated Wichita State University this past Sunday. Randle is looking to continue adding to his resume as Kentucky has a date this Friday night with their in-state rival in the University of Louisville in the Midwest Regional Semifinal that will take place in Indianapolis.
University of Arizona freshman forward Aaron Gordon was named the Pac-12 Conference’s Freshman of the Year and he was also selected as a member of the All-Pac-12 First Team this season. For the season Gordon has averaged 12.4 points and 7.8 rebounds as he has helped Arizona reach the West Regional Semifinal against San Diego State University. Gordon and Arizona are quite familiar with San Diego State as in the third game of the season he went for 16 points and 8 rebounds in a 69-60 road victory for ‘Zona.
Syracuse University point guard Tyler Ennis averaged 12.9 points, 5.5 assists, and 3.4 rebounds per game in helping the ‘Cuse finish in second place for their inaugural season in the Atlantic Coast Conference before being eliminated from the NCAA Tournament in the third round by the University of Dayton last Saturday. For the season Ennis was selected to the ACC’s All-Freshman Team and he was also a Second Team All-ACC performer.
These players came onto the college basketball scene this season with lofty expectations. But in this era of one-and-done players in college basketball, are these performers ready for the bright lights of the NBA?
2005 was the last year in which players were allowed to enter the NBA directly from high school. Since then potential NBA prospects are required to be out of high school for at least one year while also being at least 19-years of age. The rule change in the NBA was brought upon by NBA owners who had grown tired of taking chances on players coming out of high school who did not pan out. For every LeBron James that entered the NBA Draft, there are numerous cases of players such as Leon Smith and Lenny Cooke. The freshman class that came onto the college scene this season has been called “one of the best basketball classes ever” by some sports writers which is extremely tough to live up to and some more seasoning in college for several players wouldn’t hurt them, but more than likely they are not going to forgo the chance to earn a paycheck legally.
For Parker, if the current NBA rules were not in place he could have made a case to be the first overall pick of the NBA Draft last year. With a solid freshman season under his belt, Parker can now focus on being one of the top picks of this year’s NBA Draft. But at 6’8″, when Parker arrives on the NBA scene he is going to have to deal with small forwards in the league such as James of the Miami Heat and Kevin Durant of the Oklahoma City Thunder who can make All-Star caliber players look average.
Like Parker, Wiggins more than likely will declare for the NBA Draft this summer, but another year of college would not hurt his game. This season we have seen both the best and worst of Wiggins. On December 10 Wiggins went for 26 points and 11 rebounds on 7-for-15 shooting against the University of Florida. In a 77-70 victory over Iowa State University on January 13, Wiggins went for 17 points and 19 rebounds. On March 8 Wiggins torched West Virginia University for 41 points on 12-of-18 from the field. The bad Wiggins came on November 29 when he was held to just 10 points in a loss to Villanova. During Kansas’ 81-69 loss to the University of Texas on February 1, Wiggins was limited to 7 points on 2-of-12 shooting. Wiggins has been a streaky player this season that does have upside; like most youngsters do.
Wiggins’ teammate at Kansas this season in Embiid has potential at the NBA level due to his size as 7-footers do not grow on trees. The native of Cameroon has been hampered by a bad back this season, but he still managed to block 72 shots and he should expect to hear his named called early for this year’s NBA Draft.
At 6’9″, 250 lbs Randle has been an imposing figure on the interior for Kentucky. This season Randle has 23 double-doubles as he has been a one man wrecking crew due to the fact that he knows how to carve space for himself in the paint.
The only thing that has held Gordon back this season has been Arizona head coach Sean Miller due to the fact that Arizona has a deep squad this season so we have been unable to see how good the freshman can be.
It didn’t take Ennis that long to become the best player this season for Syracuse. In the semifinals of the 2013 Maui Invitational, Ennis went for 28 points as the ‘Cuse knocked off the University of California 92-81. But another year of learning from Syracuse head coach Jim Boeheim would not hurt as Ennis was only a 41 percent shooter from the field.
The money of the NBA is there at the feet of these young men and most of them will bypass pizza in college for road trips as professional basketball players which always adds intrigue to the NBA Draft due to their potential.
Source: Sports-reference.com
Leave A Comment