"Dylan. Dylan. Dylan. Dylan. Dylan." -- Dylan
When Dylan was telling the world who he thought the best rappers of all time were, he didn't sit back and contemplate things like emcee ability, freestyle skills, tenure in the game or swagger. No, Dylan just told the world who the five best were, period. (Who cares if they all happened to be the same person? That's irrelevant. God bless Dave Chappelle.)
So, in following the footsteps of the fifth member of the illustrious Bad Boy rap group, The Band, I have put together the five best players in the upcoming 2013-14 college basketball season, period. Yes, you will see other major media publications that will announce their preseason All-American lists and whatnot. Theirs will be structured. Mine is all about the five guys who will spit the most hot fire from now until March Madness, 2014 edition.
A couple of things to take note of: This list is in alphabetical order. This list is not up for debate. This list might be completely absurd. Enjoy.
Montrezl Harrell: Louisville, Forward
The first thing you should know is that the L is silent. It's mon-TREZ. However, outside of that silent L, there's nothing quiet about Montrezl Harrell's game. The Louisville big man with the 7'4" wingspan (6'8" height) proved his worth as a freshman on that 2012-13 national championship Cardinals. His flashes of greatness were evident if you were paying attention to the national title game versus Michigan. A dunk here, a rebound there, a block here and alley-oop there. The man was everywhere. Now with guys like Peyton Siva and Luke Hancock gone, guys like Russ Smith and Harrell will have to lead the way. My suggestion? Get familiar with Silent L.
Doug McDermott: Creighton, Forward
It's really not fair for Doug McDermott, because he probably deserves much better. However, it's just the sad state of reality that whenever I see the crafty Creighton Blue Jay play the game of basketball, I think of players like Adam Morrison, Danny Ferry, Austin Croshere, Gordon Hayward, Wally Szczerbiak and any other white, perimeter-oriented forward who is viewed by many as possibly being "the next Larry Bird" when they probably aspire to have an NBA career like Keith Van Horn or face a reality of being someone like Eric Piatkowski. However, we're talking about college basketball, and there are few players in the college game that can go like McDermott. Here's the good news. Creighton's now officially in the new-look Big East conference, and the days of playing Bradley and Valparaiso are over. Here comes Georgetown, Villanova, Marquette, Xavier and Butler in conference play. If McDermott steps up against that competition, we'll all know that he's real.
Julius Randle: Kentucky, Forward
Julius Randle plays beautiful basketball in an ugly sort of way, and I mean that as a sincere compliment. Maybe ugly isn't the right word; I'd rather just go with unique. Why? Because Julius Randle looks like the type of guy who taught himself how to play basketball his way. Nothing he does looks refined, but it works for him to a great degree. Shooting 3-pointers is no big deal for Julius, just like going through a double team on the block is like a meat tenderizer pulverizing poultry. The end result is imminent, and it's up to his opponent to determine if he's going to be able to withstand the brunt of the punishment. That, my friends, is Julius Randle.
Related: Top 100 of 2017, 11-20: No pressure, Julius Randle
Marcus Smart: Oklahoma State, Guard
If you were looking for all the intangibles that people love in their basketball players, he has them. Gritty, savvy, crafty, cunning, passionate. An ultimate teammate. A winner. If you were looking for the name to encapsulate what you wanted in a basketball player, then how about God of War (Marcus) and Smart (Smart, duh). Of course, the great thing about Marcus Smart is that along with all that going for him, he's an exceptional hooper. He's not a point guard. He's not a shooting guard. He's just a guard. Hell, he's really just a great basketball player shaped in a prototype guard's body. The smart choice is to sit back, relax and have fun watching this young man play basketball.
Andrew Wiggins: Kansas, Guard
If you haven't been paying attention, the hype has already begun spinning in regards to the upcoming 2014 NBA Draft class. At first, I wanted to act like I didn't want to believe it, but once I started noticing some of the parallels it was hard not to get excited about it. If the 11-year flux capacitor-like parallels of player comparisons are to be that Marcus Smart is Dwyane Wade, Julius Randle is Chris Bosh and Jabari Parker is Carmelo Anthony, then Andrew Wiggins is poised to be the transcendent star shooting at 88 miles an hour like LeBron James in the 2014 class. Speaking of class, he's got a year of work to do in Lawrence, Kansas, and we're here for the Canadian export to prove to the world that he's worthy of the future crown. Even if that crown ends up being worth $180 million.
Eddie Maisonet is the founder and editor emeritus of The Sports Fan Journal. Currently, he serves as an associate editor for ESPN.com. He is an unabashed Russell Westbrook and Barry Switzer apologist, owns over 100 fitteds and snapbacks, and lives by Reggie Jackson’s famous quote, “I am the straw that stirs the drink.”