This week in the Rivals Roundtable the analyst team of Eric Bossi, Corey Evans and Dan McDonald are discussing 2021 prospects, plus thoughts on the status of transfer waivers and undervalued NBA Draft prospects.
1. What prospects are you hearing the most about this spring?
Bossi: There are actually two: four-star small forward Jordan Nesbitt of St. Louis (Mo.) Christian and current three-star (but soon to be rising) shooting guard D’Marco Dunn of Fayetteville (N.C.) Westover. A big and physical wing who is an off-the-dribble playmaker, Nesbitt’s stock has exploded. There was a two-week or so stretch where I got as many calls for information about him as any prospect I’ve ever covered. Alabama, Creighton, Iowa, Mississippi, New Mexico, Seton Hall, Texas and others have offered, but if I had to guess, programs like DePaul, Illinois, Nebraska and St. Louis have put themselves in the best position so far.
As for Dunn, who moved to North Carolina from Arizona this year, the 6-foot-4 scorer has emerged as one of the country’s elite shooters and he’s got some game off the bounce too. North Carolina offered last weekend and it certainly caught Dunn’s attention, but he’s got others from Clemson, Louisville, Marquette, Maryland, Texas, Vanderbilt, and Wake Forest to name a few.
Evans: Sam Ayomide, who has seen his recruitment soar within recent weeks. The near 7-footer transferred into The Phelps School and while his film is just getting around to the college masses, it would seem as if they are more than intrigued. He has great size, mobility, production around the basket and upside as a rim-runner, shot blocker and rebounder. Just this month, Illinois, LSU, Providence, TCU, Seton Hall, Virginia Tech and Wake Forest have offered. His recruitment is far from over but throw those in with Temple, Texas A&M and VCU offers and what you have is one of the top breakouts this spring.
McDonald: Because I live in the Atlanta area, the answer will be heavily skewed toward prospects from Georgia for me, which is why my answer is James White. He's not currently ranked inside the Rivals150, but he's going to be under heavy consideration at next update after averaging 25 points per game this year as a junior. He's a really talented scorer at 6-foot-5 and now holds offers from Florida, Florida State and Georgia along with several mid-majors. He's also had interest from Alabama, Auburn, Clemson and several other high-majors.
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2. What are the ramifications of the transfer-eligible rule, which could go into effect after the 2020-21 season?
Bossi: I’m all for the granting of a one-time transfer, and while the rule may not go into effect for another year, I’ve spoken with many coaches who feel it won’t matter. Many are of the opinion that the NCAA is tired of dealing with waiver requests and will be much more lenient in those that they approve. Separating legitimate from not-so-legitimate hardship claims has become extremely difficult and takes up a lot of time they’d like to spend elsewhere, so we could see approvals of waivers skyrocket.
If that doesn’t happen, though, there are a lot of coaches out there who need to have their feet held to the fire for promising players that they would be immediately eligible when they may not be. I’m in agreement that the transfer culture has gotten a bit out of hand. However, until coaches are willing to admit that they have just as much to do with skyrocketing transfers as the players do, it’s impossible to have an honest conversation about the issue.
Evans: It is a good rule. While I am not a fan of the lack of transparency that was given throughout the process which led to some schools and prospects actually believing that their transfers would be granted immediate eligibility in the fall, there is just too little known and too much to be figured out as to what type of stipulations would be attached for this rule to go into effect now. Furthermore, the coronavirus is a bigger issue that the NCAA must deal with this summer. So pushing things to next year and during a time that hopefully is not as hectic and uncertain, should only aid in implementing such a game-changing rule.
McDonald: It's a smart move to take some more time on this decision. I like the idea of athletes having more freedom to change schools, but there are some obvious concerns with making transferring easier. First of all, anybody who has ever transferred schools (I did it twice) knows you lose credits when you change schools, and it's even worse if it's not in the state system. Losing credits makes it less likely an athlete will graduate after four years. And with that, the NCAA will need to take a long look at how to make the APR work because schools will get crushed if players leave and don't graduate at their next school.
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3. Who is being undervalued in the 2020 NBA Draft process?
Bossi: I’m not saying Vernon Carey needs to go in the top five or anything like that, but I continue to be surprised by how little the mock drafts and some of the NBA teams that have called me to ask background questions seem to think of him. The knock on him heading into his freshman year at Duke was that he was lazy, but he showed up in tremendous shape and produced every night.
In today’s game bigs who can shoot, and Carey can, are valuable. Plus he’s strong, rebounds and has a pretty good feel for the game. Sometimes I feel like if he spent more time fake hollering and chest bumping to show his “passion”, he wouldn’t be questioned. How little value is being put into 17.8 points, 8.8 rebounds and 57.7% shooting (including 38.1% from three) at the ACC level while not turning 19 until the end of February is perplexing to me.
Evans: We may be placing too much emphasis into various mock drafts because, at the end of the day, they are just that, so how do we know who is really being undervalued? However, if the mock draft route is the one that we are taking, I am still a bit iffy on seeing Isaiah Stewart drop practically out of the first round on some projections.
Washington finished last in the Pac-12, but it wasn’t because of Stewart. Granted, he is seen as a throwback big that has become outdated, but then again, there are a few layers of his game that I believe he wasn’t able to entirely show at the college level. Whether it his man-to-man defense or ability to make shots to the perimeter, that, coinciding with his elite work ethic and intangibles, rebounding and shot altering skills in the lane, should add up to a potential lottery pick.
He is someone that can be a positive force in any locker room for the next decade just like Udonis Haslem impacted the Miami Heat for 16 years.
McDonald: I'm going with two guys here. Villanova’s Saddiq Bey is going to be a valuable player in the NBA. He's 6-foot-8 and shot 45% from three-point range this year. He's also athletic and long enough to be a really versatile defender. The other one is Arizona’s Zeke Nnaji. He's 6-foot-11, athletic, active, and always improving his skill level. If a team can get him late in the first round, he's great value.
