NCAA Basketball Recruiting: Ranking the last 10 No. 1 overall prospects
By Joey Loose
6. Andrew Wiggins – 2013
Wiggins was certainly a bigtime prospect when he committed to play for Bill Self at Kansas, and he did great work in his season with the Jayhawks. Wiggins was part of a group of highly touted prospects back in 2013, though he couldn’t quite leave his mark on the 2014 NCAA Tournament. The Jayhawks were bounced in the second round of the Tournament, knocked out by 10-seed Stanford, while Wiggins mightily struggled on the national stage.
The young guard was solid on offense, putting up 17.1 ppg and 5.9 rpg during his one year in Lawrence. Fellow top recruits Julius Randle and Jabari Parker had impressive seasons, though Kentucky’s national title game appearance resulted from a slew of top recruits beyond just Randle. Comparatively, it’s easy to have preferred Randle in retrospect, though Wiggins was at least a solid long-range shooter.
Wiggins was a 2nd team All-American and was impressive for the Jayhawks. He would become the first overall pick in the 2014 NBA Draft, having displayed his talent well on the collegiate level. Being upset in the first weekend of the Tournament wasn’t exactly how Wiggins wanted his college career to end, but he had already proven enough in his freshmen year. He didn’t win a title; he was simply an impressive scorer and shooter.