Maui Invitational 2011: Michigan's Tim Hardaway and More Top Prospects to Watch

The 2011 version of the Maui Invitational is the best group of teams to travel for the Thanksgiving week tradition in a long time.

No. 6 Duke, No. 8 Memphis, No. 14 Kansas, No. 15 Michigan, Georgetown, Tennessee, UCLA and as always the home team Chaminade make this one of the toughest tournaments ever.

The talent is ridiculous.

Wolverines’ sophomore Tim Hardaway Jr. already is wowing the scouts on hand, scoring 21 points and grabbing seven rebounds in Michigan’s 73-61 upset over Memphis. He got to the line 10 times and is showing off his lighting quick first step. He is moving up the draft board as we speak.

The Blue Devils feature a few future NBAers led by freshman Austin Rivers and junior Andre Dawkins. Rivers is among the best prospects in the game despite having a grand total of three games under his belt. He will likely be a lottery pick if he chooses to leave at the end of the season. Dawkins is considered a mid-first round pick at this point.

Vols sophomore Trae Golden is averaging 23 points and 10 assists early in the season, and has been showing off his impressive range early on. With the lack of much talent around him, Golden is going to have some spectacular numbers by season's end.

The Kansas Jayhawks are extremely inexperienced, and their youth was on full display in a loss to No. 2 Kentucky last week. Yet senior Tyshawn Taylor is already averaging 17 points a game and will be the leader of this team all season long. He is on track to become a first-round pick.

Last but not least there is Memphis sophomore Will Barton. The 6-6, 175-pound guard had an incredibly explosive game that is going to translate beautifully at the NBA level. He was averaging 23 points and five rebounds before getting eaten up by Michigan’s zone defense on Monday.

Keep an eye on him as the season progresses; he is a sleeper that can become a Top 10 pick by the end of the year if he plays to his capabilities.

Enjoy the next three days of college basketball in Hawaii. There are a ton of pro prospects on hand, and it’s going to be the highest level of basketball you are going to see for a long time.