2013-14 College Basketball Rankings: Top 5 Wooden Award Candidates

2013-14 College Basketball Rankings: Top 5 Wooden Award Candidates: Heading into the 2013-14 college basketball season, one of the biggest questions was just how great the uber-hyped crop of freshmen would really be. Well, the early results are in, and the highly-touted class has more than lived up to expectations, and there are several freshmen that already look like superstars. As a result, the frontrunners for this year’s Wooden Award need to be reevaluated. With that in mind, here is a closer look at how the early favorites for the Wooden Award stack up after the first couple of weeks of the college basketball season.

1.      Marcus Smart, Point Guard, Oklahoma State Cowboys

Smart has an early statement performance, dropping a career-high 39 points as the Cowboys throttled the 11th-ranked Memphis Tigers. Meanwhile, he continues to stuff the stat sheet, and on the year, he is averaging 20.0 points, 4.3 rebounds, 3.5 assists and 4.3 steals. Smart has also improved his shooting percentage dramatically, and he continues to use his strength to get into the lane and to the foul line with regularity. He can do just about everything on the court, and he can put Oklahoma State on his back when he needs to.

2.      Jabari Parker, Small Forward, Duke Blue Devils

He is every bit as polished offensively as advertised, and he topped 20 points in the first five games of his collegiate career. Overall, Parker is averaging 22.4 points on 55.6 percent shooting, including a ridiculous 65.0 percent from beyond the arc. More importantly, Parker has been more than just an elite scorer. He is averaging 8.8 rebounds thus far and has made his presence felt defensively, averaging 2.0 blocks and 1.2 steals. Parker is the real deal and a legit threat to take home the Wooden Award, and questions about his overall athleticism have been emphatically answered.

3.      Doug McDermott, Power Forward, Creighton Blue Jays

The senior has been the offensive machine he was expected to be, and he is currently averaging 25.7 points on 55.8 percent shooting. He is also shooting a career-best 53.3 percent from beyond the arc. Granted, McDermott could be hitting the boards a bit more, but the guy is one of the premier pure scorers in the country and is well on his way to his best season yet. He will need a statement performance or two against some of Creighton’s tougher opponents, but he is certainly establishing himself as an early frontrunner for the Wooden Award.

4.      Julius Randle, Power Forward, Kentucky Wildcats

Freshmen aren’t supposed to be ready to physically impose their will on opponents, but that is exactly what Randle has been doing. He is currently averaging 20.8 points on 61.1 percent shooting to go along with 13.4 rebounds per game. In fact, Randle has had a double-double in all of Kentucky’s game, and he was the only player to really show up in a narrow loss to Michigan State. Randle has been overpowering any and all defenders on the block, and he is relentless on the glass. He may be young, but he is a man amongst boys on the court.

5.      Jahii Carson, Point Guard, Arizona State Sun Devils

Carson enjoyed an excellent freshman campaign, and the explosive guard is up to his old tricks as a sophomore. He is averaging 24.0 points and 5.5 assists per game for the undefeated Sun Devils, and he is shooting an incredible 57.4 percent from the field. Carson can score from the perimeter, at the rim and everywhere in between. His arsenal was on full display during a 40-point outburst that helped Arizona State knock off UNLV on the road.

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