Are any current basketball players gonna be pro prospects next year? Waters and Dziagwa are elite from 3 and have had similar careers as Cameron Johnson who went 11th overall last year. Is there any reason either of them couldn’t be taken in the 2nd round? Also interested in thoughts on mcgriff and likele at the next level. Sorry if I seem ignorant on the topic.
None of our seniors have a remote shot of getting drafted. Not trying to sound like a jerk because I appreciate them being Cowboys but come on.
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I would think it’s pretty unlikely that any of the three seniors get drafted. Don’t think Waters or Dziagwa are NBA material, though really solid college players. McGriff may get a chance to play on Summer League teams or G League next year (just seems be a bit of a tweener that’s not elite at anything besides maybe dunking).
I would think on this current team Issac Likekele would have the best pro potential. He has a bit of a Marcus Smart game to him as a hard nosed defender and improving ball handler and driver. His development could land him as a late 1st round or early 2nd round pick in one of the upcoming drafts. Yor might be very intriguing to some teams given his shot blocking prowess and efficient overall game. Would help for him to have a mid range or 3 jumper. He doesn’t have traditional NBA center height but the game is becoming more small ball.
Jury is probably still out on the 5 freshman (plus the one suspended one).
The best two players we’ve had in the last few years have been Jawun Evans and Jeffrey Carroll. Neither of them are anywhere above the G-League at this point, although they occasionally bounce up and down to the league. Lindy and Dizzy aren’t nearly as good as either of them and, while I love them and Cam, if they are going to have basketball careers, they will be overseas.
Ice, though…on one of the mock drafts for 2021 putting Cade Cunningham, Oklahoma State Cowboy, at the #1 pick (never gonna get tired of saying that), they had Likekele going at 40th (2nd round) so that is definitely a possibility.
Hidde
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Jawun and Carroll were primarily scorers that relied on athleticism. They haven’t made it because nba players are more athletic than they are. Shooting however is something that usually translates to the nba. My reason for asking about Waters and Dziagwa is I was checking the top 3 point %'s from last year and was surprised to see 2 osu guys at the top. The other power 5 guys that came out last year were drafted with Johnson being at 11 and a guy from Virginia being as low as 55. Dziagwa may be too short but Waters seems like he may be able to pull off an Alex Abrines type NBA career.
Abrines could shoot but he was also a heck of an athlete. Waters just isn’t that type of athlete. DZ even less so. Solid college players but frankly they would get run off a G League court.
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Lindy should have a pretty good career overseas, if he wants to go that route.
If Ice continues down his current path, could see him getting drafted at a decent spot, after his Junior year. Same for Yor.
Cam isn’t well rounded or consistent enough for the NBA, could also do well overseas.
Down the road- I could see Anderson and Keylan developing into NBA prospects. Keylan has a ways to go, but maybe has the most upside of the freshman?
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Gone are the days where guys could “play themselves into the NBA”.
Nowadays, it’s drafting one-and-done’s who have “massive upside”.
(Generally speaking, of course.)
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I don’t think many of our fans realize how far the talent level in our program has fallen. The seniors on our team are what most would consider to be good role players for the college level, but that is pretty much their ceiling. The team hasn’t excelled because they haven’t had that NBA level player that can put them on their back and carry them. Evans was the closest we’ve had since Smart, but he wasn’t quite there due to size. McGriff is either too small or too slow depending on which position you put him at. Waters is probably the closest but still not really that close to being good enough. He is decent at everything, but not great at anything, and unfortunately that just isn’t enough for the NBA. We are headed in the direction, but not there yet.
I’d say being a 45% 3 point shooter on 5 attempts a game qualifies as being great at something
I wonder how many teams have Seniors that can go pro. They tend to go early if they are that good. Millions of dollars has that effect.
If you really weren’t sure of the answer beforehand, I think the conference play has made it pretty clear for you. None.
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This was a painful thread to read. For so many reasons.
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Oof, yeah. Like…can’t even comprehend this one.
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