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Q. Obviously in the NBA, right, the teams are emphasizing space, pacing, and you're definitely, you know, efficient off the catch, but is there anything that kind of keeps you from taking more of those catch and shoot threes, or is it more of just like a preference or a coaching kind of thing? Kingston Flemings: I'd say it's a mix of a few things, you know? I'm not going to like talk anyone down or anything like that, but I think just getting downhill and just, I think I had the ball in my hand a lot. So I think just trying to get downhill and get my teammates some easy shots. I don't think I had a lot of catch and shoot. Like here I had to catch and shoot, but it's a little farther out. I'm obviously working on shooting farther out now because NBA the NBA range, but a little farther out here. So I kind of started using the little dribble to start getting downhill.
Shams Charania: Five-time NBA All-Star John Wall has become the president of basketball operations at Howard University, returning to Washington, D.C. to partner with the top-ranked HBCU in the country, school officials tell ESPN.
Shams Charania: Wall played for the Washington Wizards from 2010-20 after being the franchise’s No. 1 overall pick out of the University of Kentucky. For Wall, the idea to partner with Howard began on Jan. 31, when he served as the team’s honorary captain of the day and expressed to the school a desire to be a president of basketball operations at the NBA level one day. Wall has already taken a hands-on approach to the role at Howard, playing an active role in team meetings, evaluations of recruits and transfer targets and helping shape the program’s overall strategic vision with focus on roster management, name, image and likeness deals, revenue sharing, agent negotiations and player mentorship.
AJ Dybantsa is seen as having extremely high upside with a tremendously high floor. He’s a safer pick than Peterson. His offensive game is more well-rounded than Wilson’s. And scouts believe his athletic upside gives him a stronger chance to be a No. 1 option than Boozer.
Darryn Peterson’s strange collegiate journey complicated his evaluation. He did play at least 28 minutes in each of his last nine games, and scouts aren’t all that worried about why he was only playing halves of games. Scouts connected with Kansas were always much less concerned about that than the media, as Peterson was dealing with legitimate injuries. NBA teams will also see Peterson’s medical testing at the draft combine, which should provide more answers.
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It’s all about power and explosiveness for Caleb Wilson. He plays with terrific bend and balance as a driver. Combine that with his strength and leaping ability, and you get a special player who can dominate at the rim. The further into the cycle we get, the more I hear from scouts who see Wilson in the same group as Peterson, Dybantsa and Boozer, with some even ranking him as a top-three player in the class. It didn’t hurt Wilson’s case that he outperformed all three of those players when North Carolina played them this season (in Dybantsa’s case, in the preseason, but still).
USC head coach Eric Musselman said the program supports Alijah Arenas on whichever decision he makes. “We just want to be here to support him whether it’s go to the NBA and try to get drafted as high as possible or whether it be come back to potentially play here at USC,” Musselman said on “The Jim Rome Show”. “Whatever decision he makes is gonna be a great one for him, because I know he’s super motivated to prove people wrong.”
Arenas' father, three-time NBA All-Star Gilbert Arenas, said his son wants a chance to show what he can do at the college level. “I (Gilbert) said, ‘If you want to come back again, why would you?’ He (Alijah) said, ‘I want to lead college in scoring. I don’t think these people know what I could do,'” the elder Arenas said on “Hoopin’ N Hollerin” in March.
Rick Barnes expects Nate Ament to go through the NBA Draft process after his freshman season with Tennessee basketball. The Vols coach said Thursday said “there’s nothing to talk about” with Ament in regards to a decision because Barnes believes it is obvious. “The fact of the matter is I don’t see how he can’t go to the NBA because I think he’s one of the top players in the country,” Barnes said.
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Less than a day after it was reported that Florida basketball coach Todd Golden could be pursued by the Golden State Warriors – those rumors were put to an end. In his first press conference since the end of the season, Golden was asked if he was set to return to coach the Gators next season. “I’m definitely planning on coaching the Gators,” said Golden, who didn't expand further.
But I think Steve Kerr’s heart will always be in coaching. And I think it was very interesting when he said he wouldn’t leave Curry to coach somebody else, then quickly revised that — “not in the NBA.” Could Kerr take a college job at some point? I’ve always heard that going back to Arizona wasn’t out of the question for him, but that school is doing quite fine with Tommy Lloyd right now.
Shams Charania: Florida junior Thomas Haugh -- a projected potential lottery pick -- will return to the Gators next season, he tells me, @JeremyWoo and @jeffborzello . With the 2027 Player of the Year candidate back in the fold, Florida becomes the favorite to open next season at No. 1.
