Tuesday, September 4th, 2012 at 5:43 pm  |  6 responses

Tweet

SLAM Fresh 50 – 2013

Julius Randle takes over the top spot in the 2013 class.

by Franklyn Calle / @FrankieC7

So let’s get right to it. Why? Why is Julius Randle now the top ranked player in the Class of 2013 and not Jabari Parker, who has been at the top spot for the last couple of years? In a way it’s by default. Parker, dealing with nagging heel injuries throughout the summer, never got the chance to continue proving his case and defend the top spot.

We’ve all seen what he can do. This move shouldn’t be looked as an upset or disappointment to Parker in any way. But unfortunately, this spring’s SI cover has put an unfair amount of pressure and expectations on him by the public, who will now be expecting the dominance on par with LeBron—who SI compared to Parker. No teenager should have to live up to that legacy. The media doesn’t always realize that, but that’s a whole ‘nother story.

At the end of the day, Parker didn’t play much, and when he did, he wasn’t at his best. After all, as previously mentioned, he was hurting this offseason. He can easily return this season, dominate and reclaim the top spot. He has the talent and skills to do so.

As for Randle, I’ve constantly said he’s just as good as anyone to have in the top spot. On the court, he’s a man among boys. He’s like 6-9, 240 pounds and only 17 years old. When attacking the rim, he resembles LeBron in terms of driving to the hole with that same power, explosiveness and authority that LBJ has. If you’ve only seen his highlight reel videos, then you might take him for granted. Mainly because he’s so strong that he makes those drives look easy. It’s only when you see him play in games again and again that you realize how much strength and power he possesses, and then acknowledge that it’s really hard for players to keep him in front and away from the rim. Even in the couple of “bad games” he had this summer—and that’s mainly if you’re only concerned with points—he still managed to hit double digits in rebounds, among other things.

Randle doesn’t have it easy with folks now starting to realize that he automatically needs two bodies on him. He was constantly drawing double-teams in Orlando any time he got the ball on the low block. But what makes him great is that, at 6-9, he can handle the ball very well, and even likes bringing it up the floor on various occasions. Not to mention that he can shake defenders off him with his crossovers. Randle makes plays look easier than they really are.

In this updated rankings, we have some new players joining the top 50. Wayne Selden is one of them, after he reclassified to the 2013 class this summer. Maryland-native Roddy Petters is another new top-50 baller, who climbed up the charts all summer long and began making his case at the NBPA Top-100 Camp in June. Robert Hubbs is another one who has joined our top-50 list, along with Kuran Iverson, whom I predicted would climb up to everyone’s top 25 after dominating at the NBPA Camp. Sharp-shooter Conner Frankamp, along with Zach LaVine, Zakarie Irvin, Moses Kingsley and Christian Wood are among the other prospects who joined the list.