Kentucky freshman forward Julius Randle was once considered a candidate for the top pick in the NBA Draft. The talk was, do you go Jabari Parker, Andrew Wiggins or Julius Randle? Now the convo is Joel Embiid or Wiggins, maybe Jabari? Well, how far has Randle fallen? He’s still on all the midseason national college basketball watch lists.
The Dallas, Texas, native is currently leading the Wildcats with 15.8 points per game and 9.9 rebounds per outing.
Julius Randle has charted 237 rebounds on the season good for the seventh best mark for a first-year player in program history. He has 129 free throws and 379 points totals that place him ninth and 17th, respectively in the freshman record books. And Julius’ 12 double-double efforts is a mark good for the 15th most in a single season for any UK player in program history.
Here’s what Coach Calipari said about Julius Randle following the ugly win the other night over Auburn:
“He needs to sprint the court. He needs to be the hardest worker on the court and fight like crazy for offensive and defensive rebounds and see what you get on offense. Don’t worry about the offense. Just do all that other stuff. He is not being evaluated like other guys are. Guys that are 6’4 are going to be evaluated differently. He is doing fine.
Julius Randle on how missing shots affects everything else the team does.
“I don’t let it affect me. I just think about trying to score the ball and stuff like that. I just make sure I’m doing the little things,” he said after the team grinded out a W with their defense.
Julius Randle’s rebounding has certainly gone down during SEC play (and that’s obviously affecting his draft stock). Here’s what Coach Cal says about his decreased efficiency on the boards:
“He’s the only player in college basketball being played by three different people and the other team will tell you they’re doing it. (Tennessee forward) Jeronne Maymon, who is one of the strongest kids you’ll play, at halftime, went to his team and said ‘look, I’m not even going to try and score. I’m just going to make sure he doesn’t get to the basket.’ That’s what they’re all doing. He’s getting better. We’re trying to find different ways to play him, he is passing it out of traps quicker. He’s got a couple of things he needs to shore up, but that’s who I want on my team. He’s a winning player, he’s tough.”
Kentucky assistant coach Kenny Payne on Julius Randle dealing with being the focus of other teams …
“Julius’ situation is a little different; Julius is facing something that not many college guys face. On the perimeter they are sending three, on the post they are sending two. So it’s hard for him to be on one-on-one situations which means that we as a team have to help him and he should start every game out being a facilitator and then we have enough talent around him where we can burn them as a team.”
Here’s where he have Julius Randle in our latest NBA mock draft (full mock here).
6. L.A. Lakers- Julius Randle, PF, Kentucky, 6-9, Fr.
The Lakers will be pretty much starting from scratch next season and will take the best available player. The physical lefty can be a real force inside due to his strength and athleticism around the hoop and the Lake Show need to add some talent inside especially if Pau Gasol leaves via free agency.
Paul M. Banks owns The Sports Bank.net, an affiliate of Fox Sports. An MBA and Fulbright scholar, he’s also a frequent analyst on news talk radio; with regular segments on ESPN,NBC, CBS and Fox. A former NBC Chicago and Washington Times writer, he’s also been featured on the History Channel. President Obama follows him on Twitter (@paulmbanks)