Jabari Parker becoming a star for Duke Blue Devils
By Jason Marcum
Through the first two weeks of the college basketball season, the Duke Blue Devils look like a legit Final Four-contender,Jabari Parker had 21 points and 10 rebounds, and No. 6 Duke beat UNC Asheville 91-55 on Monday night in the opening round of the NIT Season Tip-Off.
Parker became the first Duke freshman under coach Mike Krzyzewski with at least 20 points in each of the first three games of his career. Parker wasted little time making it four in a row, scoring 14 in the first half while finishing 8/13 from the field.
His season-high six turnovers were a product of his repeated attempts to pound the ball inside to his teammates.
And that’s something Coach K can appreciate:
"”A really good player isn’t concerned about his points, and he’s looking for his teammates to maybe have a better night and give them some confidence,” Krzyzewski said. ”For a freshman to do that is very good. Look, he’s exceptional. What he tried to do tonight was OK.”"
And while Parker is still in college, it’s still nice to see what an NBA player thinks about the best college players, and if you ask All-NBA forward Kevin Durant, he loves Parker:
"“That [Parker] kid is amazing,” Durant said. “I think he is the best player in the country. Him and Wiggins are like ’1A’ and ’1B.’ Those guys are going to do the one-and-done thing, do it early. They are going to do really well in college and lead their teams to, I think, the Final Four. That’s kind of like, ‘Close your eyes and pick one.’ You’re good with either one of those guys.“I love Jabari’s game. He’s so skilled. He has it all right now. Wiggins is on another level with God-given ability. You look at him, you can tell he’s going to be really big and fill out a lot. He’s really athletic.”"