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Just to be clear that Cole is not Strasburging the NCAA this year:
Stras in 09: ERA 1st, strikeouts 1st, K/9 1st, H/9 1st, BB/9 45th
Cole in 11 so far: ERA 152nd, strikeouts 16th, K/9 39th, H/9 40th, BB/9 152nd
That being said, Cole is really good, and was good enough in HS to have been a top-half of 1st round pick then.  Apparently he told teams "big bonus or college" so he dropped to 28th where the Yankees took a chance -- but he followed through on UCLA.
Big things for me:
Walks are way down this year -- showing greater maturity and better command, but still throwing 95-98 consistently
Changeup is supposedly much improved
Stepped on the College World Series stage with ESPN national coverage, etc. and blew away TCU with 13 K in 8.0 IP -- no fear (and got interviewed by Erin Andrews -- maybe that's why he turned down the Yankee money).  That was with the "old bats" too.
As far as pitching prospects go, he's about as solid as a non-Stras candidate you can find.
You're right about the risk being higher for pitching generally, but the risk of Cole specifically vs. the next-best offensive players (after Rendon) is in Cole's favor, since they all have some obvious concerns as well.