Andrew Wiggins, Marcus Smart Will Share Big 12, National Spotlight

Oklahoma State's Marcus Smart turned down the NBA this year. He will now battle KU's Andrew Wiggins for the Big 12 crown. (sportingnews.com)

Andrew Wiggins will have the spotlight on him at Kansas this season. And not just in the Big 12, but across the country, Wiggins will be one of the biggest storylines in college basketball.

It's justifiable. Wiggins was called the best high school prospect since LeBron James. He's already being labeled as the No. 1 pick in the 2014 NBA Draft. His choice of Kansas sent the Jayhawks from a team predicted to be around the top-20 or top-25 mark before his announcement to a top-five squad that might challenge Kentucky after the announcement.

Wiggins' presence is shadowing another extremely hyped player south of Lawrence, Kan., who made a big decision of his own this summer. Oklahoma State's Marcus Smart was a potential top-five pick in this summer's NBA Draft as a freshman, but Smart decided to come back to school for another season. Don't mistake this move as a admittance that he wasn't talented enough. Now the Kansas freshman and OSU sophomore might be No. 1 and No. 2 in the 2014 NBA Draft.

Jan. 18 and March 1. Those are the dates Kansas and Oklahoma State (Wiggins and Smart) face off in what, as of now, looks to be a two-team battle of Goliaths for the Big 12 crown. And what a battle this will be. Oklahoma State is returning nearly its entire squad, while KU is replacing its starting five, but has one of the most talented freshman classes in the nation on campus this year.

The two players, who will share the attention in the Big 12 and nationally, will do so for different reasons.

Wiggins will have a lot of the spotlight because, for one, he is a freakishly gifted athlete, and two, people want to see what he can do at this level and if the hype is justified. The same can be said for other immensely talented freshman coming in: Julius Randle, Aaron Gordon, Jabari Parker, and so on.

Everyone will be looking at Smart to see if coming back another year was worth it, and how much he improves. Smart is projected by DraftExpress as the No. 5 pick in next year's draft, behind three freshmen and an Aussie named Dante Exum. But draft stock doesn't have much of an implication when it's months before the season.

Smart was arguably one of the top 10 players in the country last season, and a CBSSports survey of coaches that asked which player they would like to have the most, the No. 1 answer was Smart at 34 percent. Wiggins was the third most-selected player behind Doug McDermott.

Smart can score. He was No. 2 in the Big 12 last season in points produced and points produced per game, only trailing Baylor's Pierre Jackson. His 15.4 ppg was good for No. 5 in the conference, as was his 4.2 assists per game. Smart is just as skilled on the defensive side, leading the Big 12 and coming in fourth and second in the NCAA, respectively, in steals and steals per game. Smart also had the second highest defensive rating, behind only Kansas shot-blocking extraordinaire Jeff Withey.

It's hard to remember that was his freshman season. Freshman go through transitional struggles and can normally be inconsistent. Look at the guy who Smart shared the attention with last year. Kansas' Ben McLemore had a tendency to get lost in games. Smart was much more consistent with the pressure of a fantastic freshman on his shoulders, and it would be surprising if he has not improved this season.

Kentucky's once again loaded freshman class will get plenty of national buzz, as will freshmen stars like Randle, Gordon and Parker. Doug McDermott might be the best scorer in the country at Creighton. But two of the best players in college basketball next year come from the Big 12, which is why everyone is circling Jan. 18 and March 1 on their calendars.

The national spotlight is big enough for two, and Wiggins and Smart are big enough stars to be in the national spotlight. Both are coming in with different circumstances, but have the same thing to prove, which is that they're worth the hype.

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Friday Roundtable: College National Player of the Year

Trey Burke and Victor Oladipo are No. 1 and 2 in the latest Player of the Year straw poll and will be two of a handful of players battling for the award in the last month of the season. (espn.com) 

BDD's Friday Roundtable is a weekly discussion among three of our writers on a trending NBA or college basketball topic.

This week's question: If the season ended today, who would be your choice for college basketball's National Player of the Year?

Alex:
If voting ended today, Trey Burke would be at the top of my ballot. However, it doesn't and after a few surprising losses, Creighton is poised for a late comeback with Doug McDermott leading the Bluejays.

The junior is third in the latest NPOY straw poll after making a run at the award last year and with good reason. He is averaging 22.5 ppg, 7.8 rebounds per game and nearly as many nightly assists (1.8) as Indiana guard Victor Oladipo, who came in second in the same poll.

McDermott's race toward NPOY could mirror Jimmer Fredette's. Preceded by a stand-out year on the national stage, Fredette shouldered the workload for his team and won the title the following season. Both players are from schools outside of Power Six conferences, and an argument could be made for this year's Missouri Valley being tougher than the Mountain West in which Jimmer competed when he won NPOY.

Voters have soft spots for athletes from mid-major schools and players whose teams succeed based almost entirely on their play. McDermott fits both those descriptions and Creighton is on the path to finish at or near the top of the MVC before playing in the NCAA tournament.

Kyle:
Trey Burke has been one of the front runners in the NPOY race all season, and for good reason. Burke is one of the best scoring guards in the game and yet is still a great passer and makes his team better. If the season ended today, Burke would receive my vote, but there's still another player that I think has a legitimate chance to overtake Burke in the final month of the season.

I've always been a fan of Doug McDermott, but I'm afraid Creighton's struggles will keep him out of the race. I think Kelly Olynyk of Gonzaga has been the most improved player in the country and has turned into one of the best and most versatile big men in college basketball. Again, playing in a weaker conference without the national attention on a weekly basis as a Burke or Mason Plumlee will keep him from being in the top three.

Then there's Indiana's Victor Oladipo. While he averages fewer points per game than Burke (14 to 18.6), although he is one of the best rebounding guards in college averaging six boards per game, Oladipo seems to make big play after big play for the Hoosiers and has proven to be their most valuable player. Take the Michigan State game Tuesday as an example. Oladipo tallied 19 points, but more importantly, every time a game-changing play needed to be made for Indiana, Oladipo was the one with the ball. With Indiana inbounding the ball with under a minute left in the game against the Spartans, it was Oladipo who broke free from his defender for a wide-open dunk that all-but sealed the Hoosiers' victory. Not to mention Oladipo had nine rebounds and five steals in the contest.

Burke still has the upper hand at this point in the season, but if Oladipo's numbers remain consistent and if he continues to be the most clutch player on the nation's No. 1 team, I could see Oladipo taking the crown from Burke.

Eddie:

The point guard is the most important position on a basketball team. He sets the tone defensively and is the quarterback for the offense. So how is it, then, that no point guard has won the Wooden Award since Jameer Nelson in 2004 (there is some dispute regarding whether Jimmer Fredette classified as a true point guard)? If the Player of the Year were to be chosen today, I believe that streak should finally come to an end, as Trey Burke (G, Michigan) and Marcus Smart (G, Oklahoma St.) have pushed out in front of a crowded field of contenders.

Burke dominates the statistical categories that are typically strong for a point guard, posting 18.6 points and 6.9 assists per game. Meanwhile, Smart does it all. He has a remarkably strong stat line across multiple categories, with 15 points, six rebounds, 4.4 assists, and three steals per game. It may be that no single player in the country is more valuable to his team than Smart. He has time and again led the Cowboys to victory, seemingly by will alone. Not to mention, Smart is still a freshman.

All said, I would ultimately cast my ballot for Burke. He has excelled as the premier floor general in the nation's best conference. He is a consistent scoring threat, whether he is shooting from deep or taking his defender off the dribble. Most impressively, though, he posts an eye-popping 3.8 assist-to-turnover ratio. Michigan and Burke ran into a rut recently, but he has averaged 23.5 points the last two games and looks poised to gain momentum down the stretch.

There is no position more important than point guard, and no one I would rather have filling it than Trey Burke. At least until Marcus Smart proves me wrong.

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