Sports
NBA Draft stock-risers following college basketball's Feast Week – 247Sports
Thanksgiving week isn’t just for football fans anymore. In fact, the entire week was littered with big time college basketball events including the Maui Invitational, Battle 4 Atlantis and several other multiple team events.
That also made it a big week for NBA scouts. Front office personnel were on hand in these very attractive locations to watch quality match-ups between potential NBA talent.
Here’s a look at some of the players who helped themselves in the eyes of those scouts during Feast Week:
Isaiah Collier had his most pedestrian game of his young college basketball career on Friday when Oklahoma beat USC at the buzzer in the finals of the Rady Children’s Invitational. Nevertheless, through six college games, Collier has lived up to his billing as the best incoming freshman in the country. He is now getting plenty of early traction among draft enthusiasts.
The biggest surprise has been his shooting numbers (he’s making 41% of his threes and 77% of his free-throws) since his shot was considered his biggest question mark coming out of high school. To be totally candid, had he projected as this serviceable a shooter, he would have finished as the top overall prospect in the spring.
The turnovers have been a problem (he’s averaging over 5 turnovers a game against just 4 assists) but that isn’t necessarily a surprise. While he was arguably the best passer in high school basketball, part of his vision and creativity came with the total freedom he played with. It also isn’t all that common for creative passers to have high turnover numbers early in their career.
In other words, the shooting gains — if they’re sustainable — are more important than his high turnovers rate at this point in the evaluation process.
Marquette’s Oso Ighodaro is one of the highest-feel front court prospects in this draft cycle.
He is a passing threat, has a terrific floater game and has quality instincts on both ends of the floor. The Maui Invitational provided him a platform to prove himself against some of the best bigs in the country in UCLA’s Adem Bona, Kansas’ Hunter Dickinson, and Purdue’s Zach Edey. While Edey got the best of him in the final, the totality of his effort was a notable win in the eyes of NBA scouts. He was extremely efficient on the offensive end and was able to hold both Bona and Dickinson below their normal levels of productivity.
Particularly notable was his increased ability to wall up against bigger players without losing much ground. Scouts still want to see more rebounding in those match-ups. It’s also notable that he’s not yet a shooting threat which is somewhat counter-intuitive given his player archetype. But, his combination of size and intellect is rare.
Ole Miss may not have played in any multiple team events last week, but you can bet that Allen Flanigan’s numbers are still getting noticed by NBA scouts.
Flanigan went for 26 points on Wednesday to lead the Rebels to a road win over Temple. Through five games, he’s now averaging 20 points, 7 rebounds, 2 assists, almost 2 steals and a block per game. Maybe most importantly, the 6-foot-6 lefty wing is shooting the ball more consistently then ever at 45% from the floor, 50% from three and 78% from the free-throw line.
Flanigan’s identity as a player has always been based more on his physical tools on the wing. Through four years at Auburn, the shooting was always inconsistent (he never made more than 33% of his threes in any given year). Thus far at Ole Miss, he’s being very selective — only attempting 1.6 threes per game, but knocking down half of them. While he’s surely not going to sustain that percentage, if he can convince NBA scouts he can knock down open catch-and-shoot threes, then it makes everything else he brings to the table that much more valuable.
Flanigan and Ole Miss get their toughest test yet on Tuesday night against North Carolina State.
Isaiah Stevens led Colorado State to the championship of the Hall of Fame Classic last week with wins over Boston College and Creighton. Stevens was a model of efficiency and productivity throughout that run.
He had 18 points on 13 shots and 8 assists against just 2 turnovers against Boston College and was even better against Creighton with 20 points on 16 shots, 7 assists against just 1 turnover and 6 rebounds. What stood out the most was the combination of his skill-set and feel for the game. Stevens may not have prototypical NBA-caliber size or athleticism, but his instincts are very impressive. He’s a high-level passer, manipulates ball-screen and has a real knack for finding the space on the floor.
Isaiah Stevens couldn’t have been much more efficient last night in leading Colorado St over Creighton.
20pts (9-16 FG, 2-3 3pt), 7ast, 1to, 6reb.
Not just extremely skilled but also great feel & instincts. pic.twitter.com/5lWqj2N36Q
Kevin McCullar came back for his fifth season of college basketball in hopes of improving his NBA stock. Six games into the season and it appears as though he’s doing just that.
After recording a triple-double against Kentucky in the Champions Classic, McCullar opened his week in Maui with another 22 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists triple-double against Chaminade. He’s embracing a bigger role offensively and seen a massive jump in his overall production. His scoring output is up from 10.7 points to 18.2 points while his rebounds have jumped from 7 boards to 8. As for his assists, they have gone from 2.4 dimes to 5.8. However, turnovers have been an increasing problem (18 total in just 3 games in Maui).
His increased volume has resulted in more efficient shooting numbers, too. He’s up from 44% to 53% from the field while his three-point percentage his jumped from 29% to 32%. The shooting has always been considered McCullar’s biggest swing skill.
McCullar has good positional size, is a competitive demeanor and brings a lot of defensive value. Now, he’s showing more signs of his overall feel for the game and intellect which is attractive to NBA scouts.
Gonzaga super senior Anton Watson didn’t have a tremendous amount of draft traction coming into the season. He’s already 23 years old, has never put up gaudy numbers (even after starting every game for the Bulldogs last season), doesn’t blow you away physically and has been a marginal shooter throughout his career.
He got off to a slow start in Maui with just 8 points and 2 rebounds against Purdue. Then, he had a double-double with 12 points and 13 boards against Syracuse. But it was his final game of the week though, a 32-point outburst on 14-15 shooting in a 69-65 win over UCLA, that captured scouts’ attentions.
He extended his touch out to three, showed crafty playmaking and high feel at the forward spot and was the best player on the court against a UCLA team that has three front court players on NBA draft boards. If nothing else, he ensured he’ll get a closer look in the coming weeks and months. The Zags have December match-ups against USC and UConn that are bound to draw big crowds and the eyes of scouts. That’ll be Watson’s chance to prove his UCLA game wasn’t a fluke.
Kentucky stayed in Lexington last week. The Wildcats got more than they bargained for from St. Joseph’s and then blew out Marshall.
Justin Edwards got most of the preseason hype, Reed Sheppard stole headlines the week before Thanksgiving and DJ Wagner had his first offensive explosion against Marshall. But it’s been Rob Dillingham who has been the best of the freshmen, so far.
He’s added some mass to his lean frame while demonstrating both his playmaking abilities and and overall offensive package. He’s shooting 50% from three through six games, is Kentucky’s second-leading scorer at 16 points per game and leads the team in assists per game at 5.2 (against just 1.5 turnovers).
More specifically, he’s shown creative playmaking with the ball, drilled shots, demonstrated a diverse lay-up package and passed off the dribble at a high rate. In short, he’s definitely exceeding expectations.
Rob Dillingham continues to be the most consistently productive of Kentucky’s freshmen.
16pts (7-8 FG, 2-2 3pt), 8ast (2to), & 5reb last night.
Shooting 50% from 3pt through 6 games on 4.7 attempts/game & some special passing flashes. pic.twitter.com/AuD1V3FWm2
The Battle 4 Atlantis had some great teams, players and performances. One of the more interesting outings was Memphis’ David Jones.
Now in his fourth year of college basketball after spending two years at DePaul and last year at St. John’s, Jones erupted for 36 points in a semifinal win over Arkansas. The 6-foot-6 southpaw is shooting 44% from three through six games and has made four or more threes in five of this season’s six games. That’s a stark contrast from the 29% from three that he averaged in each of the last two seasons.
If the shooting is real and it sustains this season, then he has the wing size, athleticism and on-ball defensive tools that should translate to the NBA. He has some playmaking ability, as welt, but I’m not sure just how much that would translate to an NBA role. He also needs to keep improving as an off-ball defender.
© 2005-2023 CBS INTERACTIVE ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. CBS Sports is a registered trademark of CBS Broadcasting Inc.
