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Scouting the NBA Draftables at the Jimmy V Classic – 247Sports
The 2023 Jimmy V Classic at Madison Square Garden featured a double-header with four nationally ranked programs. No. 11 Florida Atlantic lost to No. 20 Illinois by a score of 98-89 while the No. 5 UConn Huskies beat the No. 9 North Carolina Tar Heels (87-76).
Of course, more important than the play itself was the cause of the event. The Jimmy V Classic benefits The V Foundation for Cancer Research which was founded in 1993 by former North Carolina State head coach Jim Valvano and ESPN. In the 30 years since its inception, the V Foundation has funded over $310 million in cancer research grants. 100% of the direct donations go toward cancer research and associated programs.
The four teams that made up this year’s event featured a total of 17 NBA prospects, according to 247Sports’ The Draftables. As a result, this charitable event turned into a showcase for NBA scouts.
RELATED: The 2023-24 Draftables: Vol. 1
Here’s a look at what those NBA scouts might have written about these prospects in their post-game reports:
The intrigue with Terrence Shannon coming into the game was based on his recent shooting numbers. In four previous seasons of college basketball, he had shot 35% from behind the arc, never averaging more than 1.6 made threes per game (which happened last year when he made only 32% of his attempts). He came into Tuesday’s game, making over three three-pointers per game and converting over 46% of his attempts. Both are career highs by a substantial margin. While he went 2-5 from three on the night, the real story was his ability to get downhill. He was able to do it all night long, attacking to both sides — both in the open floor and in the half-court — showing supreme physicality and burst in the process.
The promise coming into the season was that Shannon would be utilized as more of a true guard. We’ve seen that come to fruition, but in just the right amount. He has proven he can be a secondary pick-and-roll threat, but doesn’t have the burden of having to orchestrate too much of the offense. That’s been the sweet-spot this year. Enough volume to expand his attack, but not so much that it takes away from his efficiency.
As for the shooting numbers, the metrics will undoubtedly help the analytics-based crowd if they prove to be sustainable. But there are still some concerns. He has such a low release that is requires quite a bit of separation for him to get his shot off. He made one pull-up three off the dribble tonight, that simply wouldn’t have translated to the NBA level.
There’s no doubt the physical tools translate and defensively he’s been well-coached for long enough that he should be effective at the next level.
Johnell Davis was the first-half spark for FAU, scoring 13 of the team’s 42 points. He was quieter in the second, but scouts still got a good look at what he could do from a scoring standpoint. He has a clean stroke from three, can make some deep ones when he’s in rhythm, and has dexterity and change of pace off the bounce.
The biggest concern is his size relative to his projected position at the next level. Davis is utilized as a wing at FAU. He typically runs to the corner in transition and is rarely the team’s primary playmaker or initiator. At the NBA level, he would have to operate as much more of a combo guard who would have to handle the ball and facilitate more while simultaneously basing more of his individual offense off the threat of his jumper.
Defensively, the size is also problematic — especially based on what he showed tonight. Domask had a career night with 33 points, 25 of which came in the second-half. Not all of those were on Davis. But whether it was Domask or Shannon, Illinois’ bigger guards were consistently able to score over top of him.
After spraining his right foot in the preseason, Donovan Clingan had been “limited” coming into this game due to his issues in both big toes, according to Dan Hurley. Collectively, there appears to have been some implications on his conditioning as he didn’t look to have his full wind at the start of the game. Even before getting into foul trouble, he got his first breather just four minutes into the game.
Truth be told, Clingan had his fair share of struggles on Tuesday. In addition to the foul trouble, he missed some easy ones offensively and appeared to get discouraged at times. Many of those mistakes are correctable, though. He sometimes dribbles unnecessarily in the lane and can give away some of his height with a relatively low release point. More encouraging was his patience and poise as a high-post passer and playing out of the dribble hand-off action on the perimeter.
Defensively, his timing and positioning is going to improve as he gets his legs back under him. Ultimately, nothing we saw tonight takes away from his value as a drop-coverage monster and rim protector.
Statistically, his per minute metrics are still off the charts. But the discrepancy in his production versus high-major and non-high-major opponents is something that scouts have noticed and hope corrects itself as he gets healthier.
North Carolina is a program with good talent, but no glaring NBA prospects at the moment. Freshman point guard Elliot Cadeau gets the most buzz and plays an important role in the offense. The pure point guard is a great distributor who frees up the rest of Carolina’s guards to do what they do best. He’s a throwback type of pass-first floor general who can even be unselfish to a fault at times. He doesn’t necessarily have prototypical NBA size or burst. He’s shooting just 27% from the three-point line thus far and has looked reluctant from that range. Despite his stated intention to follow a one-and-done path last year, he looks like the type of prospect who needs to be patient with the process, continue to make himself more of a scoring threat, and grow into increased usage as his career goes on.
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