A tale-of-the-tape look at the two phenomenal freshmen — Kansas' Andrew Wiggins and Duke's Jabari Parker — who will meet in the Champions Classic in Chicago

A tale-of-the-tape look at the two phenomenal freshmen — Kansas' Andrew Wiggins and Duke's Jabari Parker — who will meet in the Champions Classic in Chicago

Jabari Parker was the greatest prospect since LeBron James before Andrew Wiggins became the same. Both hyperbolic evaluations conveniently bypassed Greg Oden and Kevin Durant. Parker also beat Wiggins to his first Sports Illustrated cover by a good 161?2 months.

America’s fascination with the next great basketball player so often results in an arms race of praise heaped upon whichever player has the misfortune of being deemed the one, the No. 1, the one and only, super-duper fantabulous, sky-walker.

Parker, who wears No. 1 for Duke, was the No. 1-ranked prospect in the high school basketball Class of 2013 before two factors contributed to dropping him to No. 4. First, he suffered a foot injury in the summer of 2012. Second, Wiggins, who wears No. 22 for Kansas, reclassified from the Class of 2014 to 2013.

High school basketball evaluators love reclassified players the way wild animals do fresh meat. Weary of picking among leftover superlatives, they engage in contests to outdo each other in describing the new best prospect since James. The higher he jumps, the wilder the projections twist with disregard for anything in their paths.

The deeper the class, the more colorful the hosannas surrounding the player chosen as No. 1.

More than 60 NBA scouts have received credentials for today’s blockbuster doubleheader in the United Center, home court of the Chicago Bulls.

Michigan State faces Kentucky at 6:30 p.m., and the Kansas-Duke game will follow. Depending on how many fouls are called in the first game, the second might even tip off before midnight.

The scouts will pay special attention to the freshmen. Eight of the top 12 players from the Class of 2013, per Rivals.com, will be suited up tonight in the United Center. Five play for Kentucky, two for Kansas, one for Duke.

They are: 1. Wiggins, 2. Julius Randle (Kentucky), 4. Parker, 5. Andrew Harrison (Kentucky), 7. Aaron Harrison (Kentucky), 9. Dakari Johnson (Kentucky), 11. James Young (Kentucky) and 12. Wayne Selden (Kansas).

Perhaps taking their lead from NBA general managers who concern themselves far more with loud tools than current-day basketball skills, the ranking services for high school basketball players tend to favor the best NBA prospects, instead of projecting how a prospect will perform as a college freshman.

Nobody had a better freshman debut than Parker. He hit all five field-goal attempts and all three threes en route to 16 first-half points in a 111-77 rout of Davidson. His array of offensive scoring methods as much as anything might be why the name he most often is compared to is Carmelo Anthony. In the first half alone, Parker scored on a catch-and-shoot three, a three off the dribble, a three after a jab step and a step-back lane jumper after he caught the ball in the post with his back to the basket.

His game is much more polished than that of Wiggins, but he doesn’t have that blurry first step that makes Wiggins such a threat catching the ball on the wing.

Wiggins and Parker could be matched up against each other some, but Wiggins likely will spend more time on Mississippi State transfer Rodney Hood and Parker more on Perry Ellis.

Blink and you’ll miss the college careers of Wiggins, Parker and several other rookies who will be judged based on potential by the NBA scouts on hand.

At least one of the freshman sensations will do something tonight he will remember forever. The temptation is to guess that will be Parker because his game is so advanced, his fundamentals so mature.

Then again, Wiggins might sense that Parker’s strong debut has made some question if the wrong guy was tagged No. 1.

The last time Wiggins publicly felt slighted was last February, when he felt Sports Illustrated portrayed him unfairly, questioning the consistency of his effort. He scored 57 points in his next game.

“After that article dropped, I knew I had to respond,” Wiggins said to Fox Sports Ohio. “That was the best way to respond.”

He went on to say, “You’d have to be an idiot to believe that,” of opinions that he doesn’t always play hard.

Effort won’t be a problem in either game in the United Center, where the atmosphere promises to recall the rim-rocking days of Jordan and Pippen.