The Most Enigmatic College Basketball Players in 2014-15

So much talent, so much promise and yet so much frustration.

There's a faction of skilled players in college basketball this season who seem incapable of figuring out what they want to do. One day they're tearing it up, the next they've disappeared. They are enigmas, ones wrapped within puzzles surrounded by mystery.

Enigmatic can mean a lot of things here. For some, it's about inconsistency, for others it pertains to underachieving and not living up to expectations. And in some cases it's a matter of a player not seeming to be in control of themselves and therefore cannot be counted on in clutch situations.

No matter the reasons, all of these players are considered among the best in college basketball yet end up leaving fans scratching their heads and their coaches popping antacids.

Click through to read our list of the most enigmatic players in the game this season.

NOTE: Statistics used are up-to-date through the games of Saturday, Feb. 21.

Ryan Arcidiacono, Villanova

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Ryan Arcidiacono has been in Villanova's starting lineup since his first game in a Wildcats uniform in November 2012. He's held that starting job for 94 games, most recently pitching in 16 points with three three-pointers in Saturday's win at Marquette.

He averages a nice and neat 10 points with 3.6 assists per game, but you have to check the box score from each contest to see whether he's going to be a point guard or a shooting guard.

The 6'3" junior guard has seven games with at least seven assists, but in games when he scores in double digits, his average assist total is 2.9. His shooting percentages (38.2 percent overall, 35.5 from three-point range) aren't what would make you instantly think of a sharpshooter, yet in 11 games he's attempted at least five threes.

Arcidiacono isn't Villanova's primary three-point shooter, in fact he's third in attempts behind Darrun Hilliard and Dylan Ennis. But with his propensity to launch in situations where dishing it out would work better, he's a player who will pass up a pass to a more open teammate in an attempt to score.

Rico Gathers, Baylor

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For as much time as Rico Gathers spends around the basket, you'd think he'd be better at getting the ball in it more.

Gathers entered Saturday ranked second in Division I with a 12.6 rebounding average, and his 5.5 offensive rebounds per game were also second-best in the country. He had 10 rebounds in Baylor's 69-42 win over Kansas State, and he added 13 points for his 14th double-double.

He's reached double figures on the boards in 21 of the Bears' 27 games, but he hasn't been able to score much because he's shooting percentage is quite bad for a player who spends all his time in the paint. The 6'8" junior forward shoots 45.5 percent, and every field goal has been a two-pointer and almost always within a few feet.

That percentage is the lowest of his career, and it has often made his rebounding numbers seem far less impressive when Baylor isn't managing to capitalize as much on all of the second chances Gathers gives it on offense.

Montrezl Harrell, Louisville

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Montrezl Harrell is such a ferocious dunker that Louisville's media relations folks frequently highlight his slam stats in press materials. His two flushes against Miami (Florida) on Saturday gave him 194 for his career, far and away the school-record holder after passing Pervis Ellison earlier this season.

Dunks comprise 55 of the 157 field goals the 6'8" junior forward has made in 2014-15, and each one shows the amount of emotion he plays with. But that emotion has also gotten the better of him this season, most notably when he threw a punch at a Western Kentucky player in December and was ejected and then suspended a game by the ACC.

Against Miami on Saturday, he picked up a foul for throwing a ball at the face of Hurricanes center Tonye Jekiri, resulting in a technical.

Considering this intensity he plays with, it's a wonder how there are often games where the monstrous post presence seems nonexistent, either because teammates aren't getting him the ball inside or he's not making the effort to get open. He averages 8.7 shots in Louisville's losses compared to 11.1 in victories.

Aaron and Andrew Harrison, Kentucky

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Kentucky's Harrison twins are intriguing to watch, a pair of 6'6" sophomore guards who at times seem irreplaceable when they're playing at their best. The thing is, it's very rare that power twins Aaron and Andrew are both clicking at the same time.

Saturday's performances were some of the best the brothers have had concurrently, with Aaron scoring 18 points on 7-of-12 shooting, while Andrew scored 12 points with nine assists. It was Andrew's third double-digit game in the past four, that coming after he had one point and didn't take a shot in a win at Florida.

Aaron has had two games with only two points in the last five, but in that same game when Andrew had a single point, Aaron poured in 23 and made all eight free throws.

The Jekyll-and-Hyde performances from each have been the kind that would normally cause each to get benched, and if that was happening with Kentucky's big men, that's just what coach John Calipari would do. But he's stuck with the twins more than any other players, even with reserves Tyler Ulis and Devin Booker often playing more consistently.

Calipari trusts the sophomores regardless of how they're playing, but from an outside standpoint it's hard to understand how this is possible when one or both seems to be having an off game.

Chris Jones, Louisville

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Chris Jones has been an essential piece of Louisville's performance this season, stepping in to replace the leadership and flair that Russ Smith had for so long at the point for the Cardinals.

Yet the 5'10" senior has also found a way to make himself known for things that never happened, such as executing one of the worst flops ever—which resulted in Jones getting benched the following game—and then having to sit out a game earlier this week for "violating unspecified team rules."

Jones' absence was noticeable in Wednesday's 69-59 loss at Syracuse, and he atoned for it by coming off the bench and scoring 17 points in Saturday's 55-53 home win over Miami (Florida). More importantly, though, he didn't show the kind of attitude that coach Rick Pitino has been so frustrated by this season.

Jones "came out of the game tonight and didn't pout for the first time," Pitino told reporters, per Jeff Greer of the Louisville Courier-Journal. "It was awesome."

UPDATE: Jones was dismissed from the program on Sunday, per associate athletic director Kenny Klein.

Marcus Paige, North Carolina

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A preseason All-American who was almost single-handedly responsible for North Carolina getting as deep into the NCAA tournament as it did last season, Marcus Paige entered his junior year with major expectations heaped onto the 6'1" guard's shoulders.

The fact that Paige hasn't lived up to what others had hoped isn't the issue. What is so odd to see is that Paige hasn't always seemed capable of even being close to the player he was a year ago, and as a result the Tar Heels have struggled and shown frequent bouts of uneven play.

Paige had 13 points and 10 assists—his first career double-double—in Saturday's blowout win over Georgia Tech, making five of eight shots and hitting three of five from three-point range. It was by far his most complete game in weeks and comes on the heels of going 2-of-11 for a season-low five points at Duke on Wednesday.

He's averaging 13.6 points and 4.4 assists while shooting 39.8 percent of the field, numbers that are way off last year. Yet it was Paige who was calling out teammates earlier this month, citing a lack of drive, focus and buying into coach Roy Williams' message.

Paige is talking a good game, but he's not always playing it. This has been very surprising from a player who was so clutch so often last year but who this season has looked tentative far too often.

Wayne Selden, Kansas

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After Wayne Selden announced he would come back to Kansas for his sophomore year in March 2014, NBC Sports' Rob Dauster opined on how another season in college could help the promising player live up to his abilities. Dauster wrote:

"

Selden is a powerful, athletic scoring guard that was a top 15 recruit in the Class of 2013, but he was frustratingly inconsistent.

At times, he would dominate, like when he went for 44 points over the course of two games near the start of Big 12 play.

Other times, he would disappear, like the 1-for-10 shooting and four points that he produced in the two NCAA tournament games the Jayhawks played.

"

Fast-forward to the final weeks of the 2014-15 season, and it's the same old Selden showing up sometimes and vanishing at others.

The 6'5" guard had just five points in 22 minutes in Saturday's win over TCU after scoring four points in 28 minutes in a Monday loss at West Virginia. Before that, though, Selden averaged 16 points and shot 52.2 percent from the field.

After playing Andrew Wiggins' and Joel Embiid's shadows last season, Selden was expected to become more of a leader this year. Instead, his numbers are either the same or worse than they were as a freshman.

Kaleb Tarczewski, Arizona

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Conventional wisdom says that, the longer you do something, the better you become at it. Yet Kaleb Tarczewski seems to be regressing as his college career progresses, and now the 7'0" junior center has reached a point where he's losing time to a freshman reserve.

Tarczewski had five points and nine rebounds, taking just three shots, in Arizona's 57-47 win Saturday over UCLA. This came after his two best outings of the season, combining for 32 points on 12-of-17 shooting against Washington State and USC.

For the year, though, Tarczewski is averaging 8.7 points and 5.2 rebounds per game. Last year he put in 9.9 points with 6.3 rebounds in almost the same amount of time on the court.

Freshman center Dusan Ristic has emerged as a viable replacement for Tarczewski, as he showed Saturday by scoring 11 points off the bench during the first half.

Myles Turner, Texas

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When he signed with Texas last spring, the addition of Myles Turner was looked at by many as the final piece needed to turn the Longhorns into a major contender to knock off Kansas as Big 12 champions. Instead, Turner has been as inconsistent and impossible to figure out as the rest of the team, which seems headed for the NIT instead of the NCAA tournament.

Turner has started seven of Texas' 27 games this year, but whether he's in the starting lineup or coming off the bench, his production has been all over the map. He had six points on 3-of-9 shooting in Saturday's home loss to Iowa State, the 15th time this year he's failed to shoot better than 50 percent from the field.

Turner also had 10 rebounds, his sixth double-digit rebound game. But all 10 boards were defensive.

Not exactly what you'd expect from a 6'11" center who is projected by NBADraft.net as the No. 7 pick in June.

For the year, Turner is shooting 47 percent and has managed only 37 offensive boards in 27 games, someone performing like a player far smaller and without the skills that made him such a highly recruited prospect who is a hot draft commodity. 

Follow Brian J. Pedersen on Twitter at @realBJP.