The college basketball season has been under way for just over a week and it is already clear that this will be a special year. There have already been great match-ups, exciting finishes and Dominating performances from the game’s great young stars.
Jabari Parker, Andrew Wiggins, Julius Randle, Andrew Gordon and many others have shown us their enormous gifts on the court that already have NBA scouts and General Managers drooling.
A few new players have impressed enough with their play to earn added attention moving forward.
New to the list this week are Michigan State stars Adriean Payne and Gary Harris, Michigan stand out Glenn Robinson, and the other big weapon for the Duke Blue Devils Rodney Hood.
Jabari Parker- Parker and the Blue Devils had a marques match-up with the Kansas Jayhawks on Tuesday night and suffered a 94-83 loss in a game which Parker fouled out. Even in the loss, Parker was dominant once again. He was able to score all over the floor and show that even in the biggest games, that he is ready to be a star. Against the Jayhawks, Parker shot 9-for-18 from the field and ended up with 27 points, nine rebounds and two steals in 33 minutes of play.
The Blue Devils were back on the floor on Friday night and came away with an easy 97-64 win over Florida Atlantic. In the victory, Parker played 28 minutes and scored 21 points while shooting 7-of-13 from the field and 4-of-6 from three-point range. Parker also added ten rebounds, three assists, two steals and a block.
Rodney Hood- Hood is a sophomore guard who is playing his first season at Duke after sitting out a year ago as a transfer student. He has been unbelievable as a shooter so far this year playing next to Parker. In three games, Hood is shooting 69 percent from the field including 60 percent from the three-point line.
Against the Jayhawks, Hood made only 3-of-8 shots and had five turnovers but still finished the game with 11 points, five assists and three rebounds.
Hood was much more successful against Florida Atlantic. In just 26 minutes of play, Hood finished with 28 points while shooting 8-of 11 from the field.
Andrew Wiggins- Wiggins and Kansas only played one game last week, but it was a good one. In their 94-83 victory over Duke, Wiggins showed off his impressive athleticism on the way to 22 points and eight rebounds in just 25 minutes of play because of early foul trouble.
Wiggins also showed off some really nice moves as the Jayhawks closed out the Blue Devils. He was able to face up after catching the ball on the block and made a pretty step back move to hit a midrange jumper to ice the game.
Wayne Selden- Selden also had a big role in the Kansas win over Duke. He played almost the entire game and showed his ability to score the ball, and get to the free-throw line.
On the night, Selden finished with 15 points while shooting 50 percent from the field and also added six rebounds and four assists.
Joel Embiid- Embiid played 20 minutes against the Blue Devils coming off the bench. Embiid didn’t look to score much but did show nice ability as a passer and rebounder. Embiid caught the ball on the block numerous times and had the awareness to step away from the double team and find his teammates for easy open looks.
Embiid finished the game with two points, seven rebounds, five assists and a block.
Aaron Gordon- Gordon continued to show his ability as an efficient scorer and good rebounder as the Arizona Wildcats won two games on the week.
On Monday, Gordon shot 6-for-8 from the field and made his only three-point attempt on his way to 14 points as Arizona beat up on Long Beach State 91-57. Against the 49ers, Gordon also grabbed ten rebounds for his second double-double in as many games.
On Thursday, Arizona was able to come away with a hard-fought 69-60 win over San Diego State as Gordon had another solid showing. This time, Gordon shot 7-for-12 from the field and 2-for-2 from deep and finished the night 16 points. He also added eight rebounds, two assists, two blocks and three steals in his 31 minutes of work.
Marcus Smart- Smart hasn’t shot the ball well to start this season, but that doesn’t seem to matter much since the Cowboys have had such an easy time with their first three games. In fact, Oklahoma State has won each of their games by no fewer than 34 points, with two victories by more than 50.
His most impressive showing on the year came on Tuesday night when the Cowboys smoked Utah Valley 93-40. In that contest, Smart scored 14 points on 5-of-12 shooting from the field and 4-of-10 from the three-point line. He also added five rebounds, four assists and nine steals.
Smart was also in action on Friday night and had a rough outing in the Cowboys’ 97-63 victory over Arkansas-Pine Bluff. Smart played 28 minutes, but shot just 3-for-9 from the field and 0-for-4 from three-point range. He did finish the game with a season high 16 points thanks to hitting 10-of-14 free-throws. He also recorded five turnovers with only three assists.
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