Home Articles/Editorials College Basketball 2013-14: New Season, New Recruits

College Basketball 2013-14: New Season, New Recruits

Following seven long months of the off-season, the 2013-2014 NCAA season officially started on November 8th. Arguably, this season more than any other, is one to pay close attention to early on.

This is the year of the freshman class. With players like Andrew Wiggins (Kansas), Jabari Parker (Duke), Aaron Gordon (Arizona), and Kentucky’s Super Six Julius Randle, Andrew Harrison, Aaron Harrison, Dakari Johnson, James Young and Marcus Lee, this is the most hyped freshman class… ever.

Andrew Wiggins, who was the top college basketball recruit this year, led Kansas in an 80-63 victory opening night. The Canada native finished with 16 points, 3 rebounds and 3 steals. Jayhawks coach Bill Self told reporters that Wiggins did some good things but can be more aggressive. However, even after the 17-point win, it was apparent that Kansas has a long way to go. The team collectively missed 43 free throws, had 15 turnovers and should have beat Louisiana-Monroe by a lot more than 17 points.  The season just started though and they have plenty of time for improvement.

Kansas’ next game is versus Duke, who played Davidson on opening night. Although it’s expected for a school like Duke to win their first game, they really played great as a whole. The team shot better than 70 percent from the floor including 13 three pointers. In total, five of Duke’s players finished with double-digit points, four of which had 20 or more. Freshman small forward Jabari Parker and sophomore transfer Rodney Hood led the team to the 111-77 victory contributing 22 points each. Junior guard Quinn Cook added 21 points and 8 assists. Duke’s offense showed up and showed out for the first game. Their defense could have been tighter but regardless Duke will be a great team to watch this year.

Arizona’s Aaron Gordon might not have received as much media hype as Wiggins or Parker during the preseason, but he definitely made a statement in his first game on Friday night. Gordon finished with a double-double in the 73-62 triumph vs. the Cal Pony Mustangs. He was impactful on both offense and defense with a team-high 13 points, 10 rebounds and 4 blocks in 33 minutes. Despite the couple turnovers he had and missed free throws, he should be an interesting player to keep an eye on this season.

Kentucky’s roster is stacked with new names this season; nine freshmen were added to the team. Six of these freshmen have been in the spotlight throughout preseason, argued to have the potential to surpass the Fab Five as the greatest.

Julius Randle has been getting all the attention after the past two games Kentucky played last week. He is currently averaging 22.5 points and 15 rebounds. In the opening game against UNC-Asheville, the 6’9” 250lb forward finished with 23 points and 15 rebounds in 26 minutes. At the beginning of this game it was very clear that this was a freshman team but they picked it up in the second half where Randle scored 15 of his total points. The next game against Northern Kentucky was much easier for the young team. Randle finished with 22 points and 14 rebounds in 29 minutes. The most mind-blowing part of those stats is that he had a double-double before half time. The other five dominating freshmen added 51 points collectively in the 89-57 win over UNC-Asheville and 44 points in the blowout versus NKU (93-63).

This 2013-2014 season should be nothing less than entertaining with all the new talent and returning all-stars like Russ Smith (Louisville), Shabazz Napier (UConn) and all the other fan favorites. It’s only November but I think it’s safe to say March Madness will be one for the books this year!

 

My name is Shayna Calandro. I'm a graduating senior at Howard University majoring in broadcast journalism, with a minor in sports administration. I live in off-campus in Washington, DC. I am currently interning with the Howard University Athletics Department, and writing for The Hilltop Newspaper and a sports blog I founded (EliteInsiders.com). I'm also a on-site reporter, videographer and editor for WHUT-TV Spotlight News. I just finished interning with Comcast SportsNet in the production and reporting division. And I've also interned at Madison Square Garden in the Communications Department.

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