High-scoring Boston College guard Troy Bell wasn’t quite himself in a Big East game against St. John’s last month. He scored 12 points on 3-for-17 shooting.

And St. John’s coach Mike Jarvis, one of the game’s most respected coaches, made an observation after the Red Storm defeated the Eagles in Chestnut Hill.

Jarvis told reporters that Bell, who leads the Big East with 21.7 points per game, is feeling the pressure from questions about his NBA draft status.

Bell is a junior and surprised some by not leaving school after leading Boston College to the NCAA Tournament last season.

Bell’s case is not unusual. These days, it seems when a college player averages more than 15 points per game, NBA draft questions begin persisting. Now it’s happening to Drew Gooden. He’s had a dominating stretch for Kansas and is a junior, now considered old for college players.

“We’ve created a system where the kid feels like he’s a failure if he hangs around for his junior or senior year,” ESPN analyst Jay Bilas said this week. “When they’re coming out of high school, we’re talking about their upside. The longer they stick around, the more we pick at their game. It’s a self-defeating system.”

The rampant increase in early entry players has changed the college game but not decreased the talent level. The challenge for college basketball fans is to scour rosters of mid-level major colleges for standout players. In the past, teams such as Kentucky, Kansas, UCLA and Duke were littered with standouts and NBA prospects.

Now, players such as David West of Xavier, Chris Marcus of Western Kentucky and Dan Dickau of Gonzaga are tremendous players who do not receive the attention they deserve.

Meanwhile, underclassmen Gooden, Jason Williams and Carlos Boozer of Duke, Jason Gardner of Arizona and even Casey Jacobsen of Stanford are being peppered with questions about the NBA.

Williams and Boozer already have announced their intentions to leave school after the season. Williams is a sure lottery pick and would be a godsend for the Warriors. Boozer is a huge question mark, a 6-foot-9 forward with a subpar perimeter game.

“There are very few people who should entertain this decision,” Bilas said. “And most of the people mentioned aren’t ready. There are two reasons players should come out of college early: They desperately need the money or are a fraud and are going to get found out. But most of these kids are not prepared to play, and are not going to make more money.”

So as we approach March Madness, college basketball fans are urged to look past the AP Top 25 for standout players. The media also must lighten up on tabbing these kids can’t-miss prospects as freshmen and sophomores.

Perhaps if these kids were allowed to enjoy college, we would see players such as Michael Bradley, Kirk Haston, Steven Hunter, Gilbert Arenas, Omar Cook and Rodney White on NCAA rosters instead of at the end of NBA benches or out of the league.

“You mean to tell me these kids are getting experience in the NBDL (NBA development league),” Bilas said. “They are playing in the middle of the day with nobody watching.”