Every big time NBA prospect in the college game has been on the floor in the last couple of weeks with varying results. While players like Jabari Parker, Joel Embiid and Julius Randle have looked very good, some have had their struggles. With an ever-changing list of players moving in the latest mock drafts here is a look at the players from the NCAA who could end up in a Jazz uniform a season from now.
Jabari Parker, Fr., Duke: The Blue Devils had two games since the update and Jabari played well in both. Against Gardner-Webb, Parker played just 26 minutes, but still managed to put up 21 points on 7-for-12 shooting to go along with six rebounds.
In his game three days later against UCLA, he really showed off his all-around game in a 80-63 victory. Parker made 4-of-8 from 3-point range and all five of his free throw attempts on the way to 23 points. Parker also tallied ten rebounds for hid third double-double of the season while setting a new career high in assists with five.
Of the players projected to go in the top ten in the draft, Parker is the most polished to this point.
Rodney Hood, So., Duke: Hood didn’t have his best two games by any stretch of the imagination against Gardner-Webb and UCLA. He shot a combined 11-for-26 from the floor and just 3-for-13 from distance will scoring 29 points. He did make all of his free throws and grab ten rebounds in the two contests, but because of his shooting woes Hood’s scoring average has dropped to 18.5 points a game. Even after this little slump, Hood is still shooting 55.4 percent from the field for the 9-2 Blue Devils.
Andrew Wiggins, Fr., Kansas: after a two game losing streak, the Jayhawks bounced back nicely in defeating the New Mexico Lobos and the Georgetown Hoyas. The same can’t be said for Wiggins however. After two of his better games of the year in the losses to Florida and Colorado, Wiggins really struggled offensively in his latest two games.
In the 80-63 win over New Mexico, Wiggins shot just 3-for-11 from the floor and finished the night with 11 points. As always, he was solid on the defensive end and finished with four rebounds and two blocks in 28 minutes on the floor.
Against the Hoyas Wiggins wasn’t much better. In the Jayhawks 86-64 victory, Wiggins was 3-for-10 from the floor and 4-for-4 from the line and finished the game with 12 points. Although he finished with a career-low one rebound Wiggins did hand out four assists and have three steals. Even though he struggled with his shot, Wiggins finally showed some visible fire and intensity which hasn’t been very evident so far with Kansas.
Joel Embiid, Fr., Kansas: Embiid played two of his best games of the year and is starting to shows flashes of his enormous potential. Against the Lobos, Embiid set a new career-high with 18 points while missing just one shot from the field the entire game. He also grabbed six rebounds, blocked for shots and recorded three steals in 25 minutes of play.
Against the Hoyas, Embid was also very impressive. In just 21 minutes on the floor, Embiid scored 17 points and added eight rebounds in the Jayhawks blow-out win.
Aaron Gordon, Fr., Arizona: We were able to see all sides of Gordon in the Wildcats last three wins. Against Michigan, Gordon did a little bit of everything in their comeback win. He showed nice touch from the floor making 7-of-11 shots as well as registering five rebounds, two assists, a steal and a block.
In the Arizona 69-43 win over Southern, Gordon showed how he could dominate the paint and score almost at will finishing the night with 21 points on 8-for-11 shooting from the field in just 29 minutes. In that game he also showed us one of his game’s biggest deficiencies. Gordon made just 4-of-10 attempts from the free throw line and is shooting just 45.2 percent from the stripe on the season.
In the Wildcats’ 77-44 victory over Northern Arizona, Gordon didn’t have a great night making just 3-of-8 shots and turning the ball over three times. He finished the game with nine points and five rebounds. After a dominating start to the season on the glass, Gordon has dropped off significantly as of late. He hasn’t registered more than five rebounds in any of his last four games.
Marcus Smart, So., Oklahoma State: The Cowboys had three games in the last two weeks and Smart made solid contributions in all of them even though his scoring output wasn’t all that impressive. In the Cowboys 70-55 win over Louisiana Tech, Smart filled the stat sheet with 13 points, five assists, five rebounds four steals and two blocks. In a huge win over the number-20 Colorado Buffaloes Smart had another note worthy performance. He scored 18 points and handed out three assists as Oklahoma State came away with a 78-73 victory.
Smart is continuing to show his ability to be a great lead guard on a top team with each passing game and is proving he made the right choice to return for his sophomore year of college.
Julius Randle, Fr., Kentucky: Randle had the worst performance of his young college career in a loss to North Carolina but was able to bounce back in a monster way against Belmont. In an 82-77 defeat at the hands of the Tar Heels, Randle made just 3-of-9 shots from the field on his way to 11 points ans well as grabbing a season-low five rebounds and turning the ball over four times.
He was much better in the 93-80 win over Belmont even though he fouled out. Randle shot 8-for-10 from the field and registered 29 points and ten rebounds in 28 minutes of play against the Bruins.
James Young, Fr., Kentucky: Young hasn’t shot the ball well as of late making just 5-of-15 shots over the last two contests including 2-for-8 from 3-point range. Although he finished with 16 points, five rebounds and two steals against North Carolina, Young made just 3-of-10 shots from the field before fouling out.
In the game versus Belmont, Young played his fewest minutes of the season (20) by a wide margin and attempted a season-low five shots.
Andrew Harrison, Fr., Kentucky: Although he struggled with his shot, Harrison had an impressive performance in the loss to UNC. Although he shot just 3-for-11 from the field, Harrison scored a season high 17 points while grabbing six rebounds and dishing out seven assists.
He didn’t do much against Belmont finishing the game with seven points and two rebounds in 20 minutes of play.
Aaron Harrison, Fr., Kentucky: Harrison was about the only Wildcat who played well in both games over the last two weeks. Harrison shot 8-for-12 from the floor and made all of his free throw attempts against the Tar Heels to finish with 20 points to go along with three rebounds and two steals.
Against Belmont, Harrison was even better. He put up 23 points, six rebounds and seven assists in the 13 point win over the Bruins.
Glenn Robinson III, So., Michigan: Robinson played well as the Wolverines split their last two games. In a heart-breaking two point loss at home to number-1 ranked Arizona, Robinson shot 8-for-9 from the field and finished with 20 points in 37 minutes of action.
In a three-point win over Stanford, Robinson also shot the ball well from the floor. He was 6-for-10 from the field, but made only 50 percent of his free throws. Robinson also added six rebounds, two assists and a steal against the Cardinal.
Gary Harris, So., Michigan State: After missing three of four games, Harris was back on the floor against the Texas Longhorns and provided much-needed scoring in the 92-78 Spartan victory. Although Harris attempted just eight shots against the Longhorns he was able to score 19 points thanks to his ability to get to the free throw line where he shot 10-for-11. He did more than just score however as Harris handed out five assists for the 10-1 Spartans.
Noah Vonleh, Fr., Indiana: Vonleh played well when he on the floor, but didn’t see many minutes because of constant foul trouble as the Hoosiers won two of their last three games. In those three contests, Vonleh scored 28 points on 11-of-15 shooting from the floor and grabbed 24 rebounds while collecting 12 fouls in 60 minutes of play.
The one part of his game that was noticeably absent during the last few weeks was his ability to get to the free throw line. Vonleh went to the stripe just nine times over three games.