NBA Draft Prospect Jabari Parker Shines in NCAA While Kansas' Andrew Wiggins Struggling

With the NCAA men's basketball season underway, and National Basketball Association (NBA) scouts focused on the talent pool that may be available in the 2014 NBA Draft, interest has been particularly high on the group of freshman that could potentially be playing in the league next year. Here is a look at several of the freshmen that has NBA teams intrigued:

SF Jabari Parker - Duke University
Parker, who has been tested early in the season having faced Andrew Wiggins of the University of Kansas and University of Arizona's Aaron Gordon, has been off to a hot start averaging 23 points a game, 8 rebounds, and shooting 55.4 percent from the field. Parker has been hitting 50 percent of his three-points attempt in the last eight games, though he went 7-for-21 in Duke's loss to the University of Arizona Wildcats in the NIT Season Tip-Off tournament. Parker recovered against No.10 University of Michigan Wednesday night, defeating them 79-69 at Cameron Indoor Stadium, with Parker dropping 15 points against the Wolverines to bounce back from their loss to Arizona.

SF Andrew Wiggins - University of Kansas
Wiggins, averaging 14.3 points and 5.6 rebounds this season, has struggled of late, going 5-for-17, scoring 16 points, and committing five turnovers in the last two games of the Battle 4 Atlantis tournament, which included an upset 63-59 loss to unranked Villanova University in the semi-finals, with Wiggins failing to play assertive in both games.

"We're a long ways to go," said Jayhawks head coach Bill Self after the loss to Villanova. "I love our talent, I love our players and all that stuff. But the thing is, there's a difference between trying hard and actually competing. And we have to learn how to compete. And it's not going to happen overnight."

PF Julius Randle - University of Kentucky
Randle, averaging a double-double a game this season dropping 18.1 points per games and 12.5 rebounds a game, has been been a monster on the defensive side of the ball, grabbing 15 rebounds against Cleveland State University, ten against Eastern Michigan University, and eight against Providence College.

Randle has struggled offensively, shooting 12-for-30 from the floor with 12 turnovers during that three-game stretch but has redeemed himself shooting 73.3 from the free-throw line.

SF Aaron Gordon - University of Arizona
Gordon, who admits he plays more as a cog within the Wildcats' system, is averaging 13 points a game and 9.1 rebounds, and was instrumental in defeating Duke for the NIT Season Tip-Off tournament, sacrificed his offensive numbers to guard Jabari Parker. Gordon also drained 19 points, snagging 8 boards against Texas Tech University Tuesday night.

"The offense runs through the freshmen,'' said Gordon of regarding his Randle, Parker, and Wiggins Arizona's victory over the Duke Blue Devils. "I'm the 'glue guy' on a team that has talent. You can stick me in the middle of all these pieces and we have all the potential in the world.''