Top five one-and-done NCAA players for 2011
The National Basketball Association’s (NBA) adoption of an age-limit has created the interesting concept of the one-and-done in college basketball. Many players are clearly ready for NBA play, or at least development, outside of high school. The age limit of 19 years-old creates a strange market of players who play collegiately for a single season before entering the draft.
This may or may not be efficient, but here are the top prospects for one-and-done draft entries in 2011.
Harrison Barnes:
The 6ft 8in Barnes is entering his freshman year at North Carolina as the top-ranked prospect in all of college basketball. He plays a prototypical small forward position and it will be a tremendous upset if he is not one of the nation’s top players this year.
With his huge set of skills and a fiery competitive spirit, Barnes is destined for the NBA and is expected to stay just this season at North Carolina and has a very good chance of being a top pick in the NBA Draft.
Perry Jones:
Jones is perhaps the best combination of size, skill, and athleticism that will be entering the college ranks this year, and subsequently the NBA ranks next year. The 6ft 11in Jones plays like an extremely oversized guard, which makes his 235 lb frame all the more unstoppable.
Jones, who will be spending a year at Baylor, can handle, pass, and shoot the ball like a guard and then dominate down-low like a standard player of his height. Jones has a great attitude as well, and his only flaw is a lack of disposition towards competitive dominance. If he finds that during his short stint at Baylor, he could actually surpass Barnes as the top college player.
Kyrie Irving:
Although he won’t be there for long, the Duke Blue Devils are excited to have their most talented point guard since Jay Williams was drafted as the No.2 overall selection in 2002.
Irving has often been compared to legendary point guard Isiah Thomas. Given Irving’s 6ft 2in frame, monstrous shooting ability, and nearly clairvoyant sense of ball distribution, the comparisons are on good pace to be justified.
Enes Kanter:
The 6ft 11in forward-centre is easily the best basketball prospect Turkey has ever produced. He currently has to clear up some NCAA eligibility issues due to having played for some professional teams abroad, but as Kanter has said he took no money with future hopes of playing collegiate ball in the U.S. It seems likely he thought of his future beforehand and is in the clear.
The only problem facing Kanter is that NCAA rules presently call for athletes who have competed with a professional team, but have not received compensation themselves to be suspended one collegiate game for every game they played with a professional team. The NCAA is considering waiving this based on Kanter’s case.
Regardless of the decision, Kanter will eventually be playing for the most renowned one-and-done school in the NCAA right now, the Kentucky Wildcats. Kanter is a rebounding machine and knows how to throw around his size and weight to dominate the boards. He has proven himself with a 34 point, 13 rebound performance at the Nike Hoop Summit and will be a front court force for UK.
Brandon Knight:
Knight is another one-and-done addition to a Kentucky Wildcats roster that is on pace to have a starting player retention rate of nearly zero. The 6ft 3in guard should thrive in the combo guard/scoring point guard position that John Calipari is best at developing. Right now, Knight can score with the best of them; he just needs to improve his distributive abilities in order to become a more complete player.
Based on the developments of Calipari’s previous guards in that vein, Derrick Rose and John Wall, Knight should develop well and will definitely be a major part of an explosive Kentucky offence prior to his June departure to the professional ranks.
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