Two freshman phenoms, two of the best coaches in the game and two of the most storied basketball programs take center court in Chicago on Tuesday and it will be must-see TV.
The No. 4 ranked Duke Blue Devils will face the No. 6 ranked Kansas Jayhawks at 10 p.m. Tuesday on ESPN in one of the biggest matchups in the early part of the college basketball season. Both teams have Final Four aspirations and are talented across the board, but the matchup between freshmen Andrew Wiggins and Jabari Parker is what people will be keying into.
Wiggins will suit up for the Jayhawks and is one of the most highly touted prospects in recent times. His potential is off the chart and is projected to be the No. 1 pick in the 2014 draft. Parker is the more polished player and racked up basically every accolade imaginable as a high school star in Chicago. It will be our first chance to see the two on the court together.
Wiggins was solid in his debut scoring 16 points and helping Kansas grab their first victory of the season over Louisiana Monroe. Parker had 22 points in Duke’s impressive opening season win over Davidson. Wednesday night will be the first time these two players destined for stardom down the road in their careers will play each other. I expect them to guard each other and give each other their best games. That is what big-time talents do and these two freshmen have the potential to be two of the best players in the entire country this season. We will get a chance to see their true colors and a big game like this one. That alone is worth it to tune in, but it is not the only reason.
Put Wiggins and Parker to the side and these teams are still super talented. Duke had four players score 20 points or more in their season opener for the first time in school history. Parker, Rondey Hood, Quinn Cook and Rasheed Sulaimon were the 20-point scorers for the Blue Devils. This team is guard oriented and will rely heavily on their dominant guard play to win this game. Kansas has a more balanced attack and will rely on their defense to shut down the Blue Devils. If Kansas can contain Duke’s guard they will have the advantage to win the game because of Duke’s poor interior play.
The guys that will be directing their teams on the sidelines are no slouches either; they are two of the best. Bill Self and Mike Krzyzewski are as good as it gets. Both have built two of the perennial college basketball programs in the nation and put top-10 teams on the court year after year. These two coaches will have their teams ready to play for this primetime matchup.
This has the potential makeup for a Final Four game come March. We are lucky we get to see two talented teams with stud freshmen led by Hall of Fame coaches take the floor this early in the college basketball season. This is a game you won’t want to miss.
