Every couple of years an up-and-coming hoops prospect seems to have that something special that will make him a star on any level of basketball. In the past, some players that have embodied that buzz as early as high school have been Lebron James, John Wall, and Anthony Davis.
While this year’s top prospects Nerlens Noel and Shabazz Muhammed drew their fair share of praise for un-ending highlight reel plays over their senior seasons, and Jabari Parker has already turned some heads as the top ranked junior, the universally top ranked recruit regardless of class has to be rising sophomore Andrew Wiggins, hailing from Canada.
If you remember back in 2009, The HoopDoctors.com was one of the first sites to inform the blogosphere about Wiggins, then an amazing 13 year old baller from Toronto,Canada, who was dominating middle school competition. Back then, Wiggins was a 6’6 and 195 lb 7th grader that was just beginning to scratch the surface of him immense potential.
Fast forward 3 years, and Wiggins has developed into the best sophomore in the nation, playing for West Virginia’s famed Huntington Prep and Canada’s CIA Bounce on the AAU circuit. During this year’s Nike Hoops Summit, Wiggins even outshined his American counterparts Muhammed, Noel, Rodney Purvis, and Kyle Anderson to take home the event’s MVP honors in addition to leading the World to a victory over Team USA.
Although Wiggins hasn’t grown much since his middle school days, his wiry 6’7 frame and through the roof offensive game has made him the must get recruit heading towards the 2014-2015 NCAA season. As one would expect, top tier coaches like Kentucky’s John Calipari can usually be seen sitting courtside at each and every on of Andrew’s games this Spring.
He recently tore up the competition on the first two stops of the 2012 Nike EYBL Tour in Minnesota and Hampton, VA alongside fellow highly touted teammates PG Tyler Ennis(2013) and 7‘3 Tanveer Bhullar(2013), leading CIA Bounce to an impressive 9-0 record. Right now, the #1 pick in the 2015 NBA Draft is Wiggins’ to lose……
Check out Andrew Wiggins’ Sophomore Season Mixtape:
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.
