Prior to the start of the ’13-’14 NCAA hoops season all anyone was talking about was University of Kansas freshman Andrew Wiggins and how he was the 2nd coming of NBA superstar Lebron James, capable of leading the Jayhawks to another NCAA Title.
But expectations for Wiggins has tempered a bit as fellow frosh like Duke’s Jabari Parker, Kansas’ Joel Embiid, and Oklahoma State sophomore Marcus Smart have either caught up or vaulted over Wiggins as the nation’s most exciting player.
Despite a mini December slump, most NBA GM’s and scouts agree that Duke’s freshman forward Parker is the most NBA ready pro prospect and is currently projected as the #1 overall pick in the 2014 NBA Draft.
Parker started his collegiate career with 7 consecutive 20+ point scoring games and is averaging an impressive 18.9 ppg, 7.7 rebounds, 1.2 blocks, while shooting nearly 40% from behind the arc.
Duke’s fabulous frosh has also caught the attention of some of the NBA’s biggest names like Kobe Bryant, Lebron James, and Dwyane Wade took advantage of an off day on the NBA schedule to sit courtside to witness Jabari Parker in action.
The wide eyed teenager had to be a tad nervous but put on a show in front of his future co-workers, putting up an impressive stat-line of 17 points, a career high 15 boards, and 3 blocks as Duke ran the hometown Miami Hurricanes out of their own gym 67-46 for another ACC win.
Allen Moll has been a lifelong NBA and NCAA College Basketball fan who watches and studies games religiously, and coaches youth basketball in his native Lehigh Valley region of Pennsylvania. Allen has also provided content to Bleacherreport.com, Upperdeckblog.com, Cleveland.com, CSN Philly.com, Buckets Magazine, in addition to being a tenured NBA and NCAA columnist for TheHoopDoctors.com.
