Men's Basketball's Biggest Names of the Season
With the craziness of March Madness set to soon begin in college basketball, it’s time to look back at this season’s best players. In yet another year, freshmen have stolen the show in many regards, leaving very few upperclassmen in the spotlight.
With the NBA draft creeping up on us, how will the most recognized names fare come draft day? The big names are almost always the best talents, so let’s take a look at the season’s review of the biggest names in college basketball.
Andrew Wiggins
Gracing the cover of Sports Illustrated, Wiggins was supposed to be the dominant force in college basketball this year. Although he hasn’t been quite the talent many people expected, he has been one of the best players in the game this year. From Kansas, the freshman shooting guard has played well enough to make him one of the top two draft prospects, thanks partly to his freakish athleticism and good size. As the biggest name coming into this year’s college basketball season, Wiggins has averaged 16.2 points and 5.8 rebounds per game. Along with another top player, Wiggins has helped lead Kansas to a 20-6 record with high tournament aspirations.
Jabari Parker
Despite a late season loss to rival North Carolina, Duke has had an impressive year, going 21-6 on the back of Parker. With some of the best numbers of the year, Parker has averaged 19.1 points and 8.8 rebounds per game as a freshman. As Duke’s go-to guy, Parker has made himself into one of the top three draft prospects as the best small forward in college basketball. The young talent has shown a great basketball I.Q., no doubt due to the fact that he has learned under one of the best coaches in all of basketball, Mike Krzyzewski.
Marcus Smart
If you didn’t know his name before the season, you sure know it now. As the recent media focus in college basketball, Smart is the only big name to not be a freshmen. Despite being older than the others on this list, Smart has shown the least amount of maturity. In a recent game against Texas Tech, Smart lost his cool and shoved a fan before Tweeting back and forth with antagonistic fans, but at least he hasn’t needed substance abuse treatment, right?
The Oklahoma State point guard has certainly shown competitiveness and has led his team to a less-than-stellar 16-10 record with an average of 17.5 points, 5.7 rebounds and 4.3 assists per game. Either way, Smart is one of the top five or six prospects for the NBA draft, and we will wait and see if his lack of maturity will hurt him on draft day.
Joel Embiid
As the least well-known name out of this list to start the season, Embiid’s name has quickly become familiar to NBA teams with a potential lottery pick. For college basketball fans and experts, Embiid has turned out to be one of the most impressive freshmen in college basketball. The Kansas center has averaged 11 points and 7.8 rebounds per game, along with outstanding defensive skills and fluidity to his game that most big men lack. Now that everyone knows his name, Embiid is one of the top three players on most NBA mock draft boards after his great season.
