Julius Randle and 15 College Basketball Players Off to a Hot Start

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Players Off to a Hot Start

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Mark Zerof-USA TODAY Sports

Many players have shined early on in the season and many players are off to a great start. However, this article will be looking at Kentucky Wildcats’ Julius Randle and 15 college basketball players who are off to a hot start.

There are clearly more than 15 players who have gotten off to a good start, so it is impossible to mention everyone and many great players will be left off of this list. Still, there are some really good players that are listed in the slides to come that I am sure many people can agree on.

Andrew Wiggins has not disappointed so far and his Kansas Jayhawks even got a huge win over the Duke Blue Devils. Kentucky already recorded its first loss of the season against a very experienced Michigan State team.

Michigan was upset by the Iowa State Cyclones, but it was nice to see Mitch McGary back in the lineup. Iowa State also got its most important player back in Melvin Ejim. Ejim had a huge first game for the Cyclones and he was a big reason why they were able to pull off the upset.

There are definitely going to be some players who separate themselves from everyone else this year, but no one has really done that yet. We all know Russ Smith and Doug McDermott are capable of putting up huge numbers every single game. Neither will be featured on this list, but both have been great so far.

With that said, read on to see 15 college hoops players who are off to a hot start.

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Julius Randle, Kentucky Wildcats

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Mark Zerof-USA TODAY Sports

Julius Randle has arguably been the most impressive freshman so far. However, he has plenty of competition and a couple of his fellow classmates are featured on this list.

Randle is averaging 20.5 points per game and 14.3 rebounds per game. Not bad for a freshman. Unfortunately, his Wildcats already have one loss on the season, so that perfect season debate is no more.

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Casey Prather, Florida Gators

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Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports

The Florida Gators already have one loss, but they did lose to a very good Wisconsin team. In their defense, the Gators were short-handed in that game, but the Badgers still earned the victory.

Whether the case, Casey Prather has been awesome so far and could be the biggest surprise on this team. We all knew that Prather had plenty of talent, but did anyone expect him to put up 22.3 points per game and six rebounds per game? It is only three games into the season for the Gators, but still.

I am not sure if Prather can keep that up, but the team should be more balanced once everyone is back.

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Jabari Parker, Duke Blue Devils

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Dennis Wierzbicki-USA TODAY Sports

Jabari Parker is another freshman who has been amazing so far this season. Parker may have lost to the next player on this list, but his numbers have been very impressive.

Parker is averaging 23.3 points per game and 8.3 boards per game. He is also shooting 58.5 percent from the field and 68.8 percent from behind the arc. Something tells me that Parker is going to be in the spotlight all season long.

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Andrew Wiggins, Kansas Jayhawks

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Denny Medley-USA TODAY Sports

Andrew Wiggins' team won in the Championship Classic. That is something that Julius Randle and Jabari Parker cannot say. That has to count for something.

Wiggins has a lot of potential and he probably is the most talented player we have seen in a long time. He also has some pretty good numbers to back that up. He is averaging 19 points per game and 5.5 rebounds per game.

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Joseph Young, Oregon Ducks

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Scott Olmos-USA TODAY Sports

The Oregon Ducks have not played the toughest competition, but they still managed to beat Georgetown. Joseph Young was great in that contest. He dropped 24 points against the Hoyas and then followed that up with a 36-point performance in the very next game.

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D’Angelo Harrison, St. John’s Red Storm

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Anthony Gruppuso-USA TODAY Sports

The St. John’s Red Storm may already have one loss, but it came against the same Wisconsin team that knocked off the Florida Gators.

Harrison may not be draining it from behind the arc--currently shooting 9.1 percent from long range--but he sure is putting the ball into the hoop regardless (averaging 26 points per game).

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Andre Hollins, Minnesota Golden Gophers

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Jim Cowsert-USA TODAY Sports

Andre Hollins is going to have to play huge all season long if Minnesota has any chance at making the NCAA tournament. His 22.7 points per game through three games is a great start.

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Chaz Williams, Massachusetts Minutemen

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Bob DeChiara-USA TODAY Sports

Chaz Williams very well could be the best player in the Atlantic 10 Conference. So far he is averaging 21 points per game and 7.7 assists per game. He has been great in all three games for Massachusetts, which includes victories over LSU and Boston College.

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T.J. Warren, North Carolina State Wolfpack

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Sam Sharpe-USA TODAY Sports

T.J. Warren is going to shine now that he is the best player on the North Carolina State Wolfpack. He may only be a sophomore, but he could be one of the best players in the ACC regardless.

Warren is averaging 21 points per game and seven rebounds per game. However, he did only score 13 points in a losing effort to the Cincinnati Bearcats.

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Phil Forte, Oklahoma State Cowboys

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Peter G. Aiken-USA TODAY Sports

The Oklahoma State Cowboys have a bunch of talent, which includes one of the best players in the entire country. Everyone expected Marcus Smart to be great this season, but Phil Forte is stealing the show--so far.

Forte is leading the team with 21 points per game and he is also shooting 70.4 percent from the field and 63.6 percent from behind the arc. Memphis is next, so I would imagine that Smart would lead the Cowboys in that game.

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Nik Stauskas, Michigan Wolverines

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Rick Osentoski-USA TODAY Sports

Before last night’s loss against Iowa State, I had Caris LeVert on this slide instead of Nik Stauskas. However, Stauskas dropped 20 points against Iowa State and is now leading Michigan with 17.3 points per game.

He is not leading the country in scoring or anything like that, but he has been great so far and has arguably been the Wolverines’ best player.

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Rodney Hood, Duke Blue Devils

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Rob Kinnan-USA TODAY Sports

Jabari Parker is naturally going to get more buzz because he is a freshman and has a lot of potential. However, Rodney Hood has also been very, very good.

Hood is averaging 20.3 points per game and five rebounds per game. He could only manage 11 points against Kansas. Still, he has been great so far and is easily one of the best players on Duke.

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Perry Ellis, Kansas Jayhawks

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John Rieger-USA TODAY Sports

Perry Ellis did not get as much hype as Andrew Wiggins entering the season, but he was still a four-star recruit not too long ago.

Wiggins cannot do it all on his own this year and I doubt he will have to. Ellis is putting up 18 points per game and 8.5 rebounds per game. He also scored 24 points against Duke.

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Mike Moser, Oregon Ducks

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Scott Olmos-USA TODAY Sports

Before the season started I thought Mike Moser could be the best player in the Pac-12. I still think that, however, Joseph Young has arguably been better.

Still, Moser is averaging 20.5 points per game and six rebounds per game. He is shooting 57.7 percent from the field and 41.7 percent from behind the arc.

Best player in the Pac-12 or not, Oregon is going to be really good if Moser and Young can keep producing on the offensive side of the ball. It is important to note that Moser is also averaging 3.5 steals per game.

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Yogi Ferrell, Indiana Hoosiers

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Pat Lovell-USA TODAY Sports

I am not sure if Yogi Ferrell is going to lead the Indiana Hoosiers in scoring all season long, but he has done a solid job in the scoring department so far.

Ferrell is leading the team with 19.5 points per game. He is also averaging 4.3 rebounds per game and 4.5 assists per game.

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