NCAA: Breaking Down Julius Randle, Jabari Parker, Andrew Wiggins

A total of 68 NBA scouts attended the NCAA Champions Classic doubleheader last night. Very rarely this early in the college basketball season do we get to see the top two ranked teams go head-to-head, as Michigan State and Kentucky did at the United Center on Tuesday. The other stellar matchup was between Kansas and Duke. Why were there so many scouts attending the games?

Julius Randle. Jabari Parker. Andrew Wiggins.

Those three players highlight the potentially loaded 2014 draft class and scouts got a first-hand glance at them. After a few games early on in the season, Randle has posted the best numbers, Parker seems to be NBA-ready right now and Wiggins has the highest ceiling.

Below is a brief summary of what we saw from each player Tuesday night.

Julius Randle

It was a slow start for Randle, but he still ended the game with 27 points and 13 rebounds. In the first half, he struggled with turnovers and looked like he was thinking too hard trying to determine what move to make. He got plenty of touches, but his indecisiveness led to turnovers as the defense crowded him every time he put the ball on the floor.

The second half was a different story. Randle was aggressive with his post ups and made quick moves and most importantly, he was ATTACKING. He set the tone early on and brought Kentucky back within single digits. When he attacked the rim, there was nothing any one player on Michigan State could do to defend him. He showcased his all-around offensive game, at times getting rebounds and taking it coast to coast. After two games, Randle is now averaging 22.5 points and 14.5 rebounds a game.

Jabari Parker

At 6’8″ and 235 pounds, Parker is NBA-ready right now. He’s got a well-rounded offensive repertoire similar to that of Carmelo Anthony and he finished with 27 points (19 in the first half), nine rebounds, and he was 4-for-7 from 3. Throughout the game, he had to guard some of Kansas’ bigger forwards and he showed his versatility as a defender. The play of the game was his finish in transition where he split three Kansas players and made an acrobatic layup. There was also the play with him catching an alley-oop for a highlight dunk. Parker may not be as explosive of some other top prospects, but his fundamentals right now make him NBA-ready.

Andrew Wiggins

Wiggins has the build of Kevin Durant, but he’s wiry strong. One of the most athletic players in all of college basketball, he was caught in foul trouble for most of the first half and was unable to get into a groove offensively. In the second half, he was able to get involved more on that side of the floor, posting up smaller players, being active around the glass and showing his lethal first step and bounce off the floor. Scouts would have liked to see Wiggins create more one-on-one off the dribble and set up his teammates though. His stat line for the game read 22 points and 10 rebounds.

[slider_pro id=”32″]