College Basketball Recruiting: Top Landing Spots for Andrew Wiggins

Courtesy nationofblue.com

The crowning jewel of the college basketball recruiting class of 2014, Andrew Wiggins, is the consensus No. 1 overall prospect and may have as big an impact as Jabari Parker will in the class of 2013.

Wiggins is a 6'7" wing with all the tools to dominate. He has a good outside game with great range and consistency to complement his ability to drive through the lane. He also has a good mid-range game if defenses key in on him on the perimeter and in the paint.

While he might need to improve his passing ability to avoid the double teams that inevitably follow him, right now he is among the nation's top players at any age.

Wiggins' recruitment is going to be the biggest storyline next summer. Unlike other recruits, his list is already pretty small, which allows me to bring you a preview of what's to come in the summer of 2013.

Schools Rumored to Be on His List

Courtesy ESPN

These schools are not in the top five that are expected to lead the chase for Wiggins, but they are all rumored to be on his list as well.

 

West Virginia (ESPN, Scout)

Kansas (Rivals)

Ohio State (Rivals)

North Carolina State (Scout)

5. Duke Blue Devils

Rob Schumacher-USA TODAY

After leading Team USA to an Olympic gold medal, Mike Krzyzewski continues to build on one of the greatest coaching resumes in history.

Coach K is the NCAA's all-time wins leader and could easily hit 1,000 career victories by the end of his carer. He's hoping that Wiggins will help add a few more.

With such a great coach, Duke already has an interesting pitch for any recruit. Throw in the program's great prestige and long history, Wiggins' ability to immediately compete for a championship with the Blue Devils and a near-guarantee to be a top pick in the NBA and Duke's pitch sells itself.

Duke isn't on all of his lists, however. While he listed them among his top five, some lists still do not, which is why they are only No. 5 on this list.

4. Florida State Seminoles

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Leonard Hamilton is trying to bring Wiggins to Florida State to continue to build the program that he led to a great season last year.

No, the school doesn't have the same pedigree of coach or program as some of the other schools on his list, but perhaps being the final part in the rebuilding of Florida State has a great lure for him.

The Seminoles need a great player like Wiggins. Hamilton is not bringing in many elite recruits, but now he has a chance to land a whale of a prospect in Wiggins.

FSU is the furthest school from his home in Canada, but if distance is a non-issue for Wiggins, the program's consistent appearance on all of his lists makes sense.

3. North Carolina Tar Heels

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It was a tough call between putting North Carolina at No. 2 or No. 3 for Wiggins, but I decided on the latter.

Roy Williams is among college basketball's best coaches and recruiters, and he too has a great history of NBA players coming from his program, turning out four more players this year.

North Carolina is always among the nation's best, and Wiggins could help them. While he isn't a point guard or big man like Williams loves, adding a new athletic player into the mix would be a great thing for the Tar Heels.

Wiggins' decision on UNC could rely on how Williams recruits over the next year or so, but you can bet that the best point guard he could possibly team up with will be a Tar Heel.

2. Syracuse Orange

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As another coach who helped the U.S. win an Olympic gold in basketball, Jim Boeheim is among college basketball's legendary coaches.

Boeheim's athletic 2-3 zone and his love to score in transition makes Syracuse a great fit for Wiggins. He will be allowed to use his God-given talents and athleticism to the fullest extent at Cuse, and the system has to be part of Boeheim's recruiting pitch.

Along with his game plan, Boeheim can also offer great coaching success, NBA history, a historic program and being the closest school to Wiggins' Toronto home.

With so many pitches it's hard to think that Syracuse isn't among the top schools, and they could potentially land Wiggins in about a year or so.

1. Kentucky Wildcats

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Anybody who knows anything about college basketball recruiting can tell you to never count John Calipari out.

While it pains me to say it because I loathe his system of bringing in "one-and-dones," Coach Cal might be the best recruiter in history. He brings in truckloads of talented players every year, and even losing six players to the NBA last season didn't stop him from being a top-three team in the preseason poll.

Odds are that Calipari can make a great push for Wiggins. He's had great success with NBA players, the Wildcats are always National Championship contenders, Kentucky has one of the best histories of any program and Wiggins could secure his place as the No. 1 overall draft pick in 2015.

B/R's own Paul Ables tells us how Calipari can land Wiggins, and he makes a strong case. It's tough to picture Calipari being anywhere other than in the lead for Wiggins, but at this point it's all speculation.

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