Player Name: Kemba Walker

School: Connecticut

Height/Weight: 6’1/185 lbs.

NBA Position: Point Guard

Projected Draft Range: High First Round

Overview: Despite his short stature, Kemba Walker was incredibly successful as a three-year player for UConn head coach Jim Calhoun. Hailing from the prolific Rice High School in the Bronx, Walker began his college career playing over 25 minutes per game but only started two games as a freshman. America got a taste of what was to come in the 2009 Elite Eight against Missouri, when a 23-point Walker effort helped propel UConn to the Final Four before losing to Michigan State in the national semifinal. From that point on, he cemented himself as the unquestioned leader of the Huskies. While the Huskies missed the NCAA Tournament in his sophomore campaign, Walker continued to improve by using his outstanding quickness to to up his scoring average (14.6 PPG) and refine his three-point shooting (34.2%). Walker’s junior season was a complete revelation from the get-go, as he dropped jaws in Maui with a tournament total of 90 points against Wichita State, Michigan State and Kentucky. Twenty-point games became the norm (a top-five national scorer at 23.2 PPG), but Walker’s collegiate career will of course be remembered for guiding the Huskies through a scorching hot streak at precisely the right time. UConn won five games in five days to capture the Big East Tournament championship, and with the leadership of Walker and freshman Jeremy Lamb, UConn carried that momentum all the way to the NCAA Tournament title.

Kemba's Dream Season Will Soon Result in NBA Riches

Will Translate to the NBA: Explosiveness is the characteristic that will carry Walker to a successful pro career. He’s incredibly quick off the dribble and keeps the ball on a string. Though he stands only 6’1, early on he realized the importance of creating space to gets shots off. As a result, he has grown quite proficient in executing jab steps, crossovers and step-back jumpers. He was incredibly durable as a junior, regularly playing over 35 minutes per contest, a testament to his conditioning and ability to stay out of foul trouble and avoid mistakes. Many also forget that Walker was a very good rebounder for someone his size (5.4 RPG last season), though of all his many skills, this is one that’s most likely to dissolve at the next level.

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Over the course of the next month until the NBA Draft on June 23, RTC will be rolling out comprehensive profiles of the 35 collegians we feel have the best chance to hear their names called by David Stern in the first round that night. There won’t be any particular order to the list, but you can scroll back through all the finished profiles by clicking here.

Player Name: Jimmer Fredette

School: BYU

Height/Weight: 6’2/195 lbs.

NBA Position: Point Guard

Projected Draft Range: Mid-First Round

Overview: After spending much of his junior year as a relatively under-the-radar star that only true hoop junkies appreciated, Fredette burst onto the national stage with a series of scintillating performances that turned him into a cult hero  where you could refer to him as just “Jimmer” and everybody would know who you were talking about (ok, maybe his unique name helped with that last part). Fredette’s skills were most evident in a home game against San Diego State where he lit up the Aztecs for 43 points and later in the Mountain West Tournament when he torched New Mexico for 52 points. For all of Fredette’s gifts as a scorer there are major concerns about every other area of his game. The most notable issue is his matador defense that could become a major liability at the next level if he is asked to defend an opposing point guard for any extended period. There are also concerns about his abilities to run a NBA offense against any level of pressure. Because of the stark contrast between certain NBA All-Star level skills (his shooting and scoring abilities) and his D-league skills (defense), Fredette remains one of the most intriguing prospects in the 2011 NBA Draft.

Can Jimmer make the transition to the NBA?

Will Translate to the NBA: Jimmer appears to fit a very specific role in the NBA in our eyes: a scorer who can come off the bench and score in bunches, or, at the very least, stretch opposing defenses to give his team an ability to attack the rim or feed the post. He will probably play as a point guard, but his primary function will be instant offense and he will probably have to rely on another player to act as the primary initiator of the offense to take some of the load off of him. He will probably struggle on defense unless his team can hide him with a zone defense (or something similar), limiting his minutes, but there are plenty of NBA players who are sub-par defenders that remain in the league and play meaningful minutes so it is easy to imagine Fredette staying in the league for a number of years.

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Over the course of the next month until the NBA Draft on June 23, RTC will be rolling out comprehensive profiles of the 35 collegians we feel have the best chance to hear their names called by David Stern in the first round that night. There won’t be any particular order to the list, but you can scroll back through all the finished profiles by clicking here.

Player Name: Jordan Hamilton

School: Texas

Height/Weight: 6’8/224 lbs.

NBA Position: Small Forward

Projected Draft Range: Mid-First Round

Overview: Hamilton came to Texas as a five-star recruit out of Compton’s Dominguez High, a school that has produced such basketball luminaries as Dennis Johnson, Cedric Ceballos, Tayshaun Prince, Tyson Chandler and Brandon Jennings, to name just a few. Even back at Dominguez, Hamilton was regarded as a fearsome offensive player, capable of scoring from all over the court, albeit with a tendency to force up wild shots. In his first season in Austin, he lived up to his reputation as a uninhibited gunner – as well as his reputation as an uninterested defender – as the Longhorns limped home to an early NCAA exit. However, as a sophomore, Hamilton took great strides to shore up some of those problems, improving his shot selection drastically (while still taking 33% of his team’s shots while on the floor), and as a result, increasing his field goal percentage by three percentage points and his three-point percentage by two, up to 44% and 38.5% respectively. Along the way, he also yanked down 7.7 rebounds per game and handed out 2.1 assists per game. However, his defense still rates no higher than awful and, while a great shooter with almost unlimited range, he isn’t much of an offensive threat off of the dribble and is prone to turning the ball over too much. Nevertheless, while Hamilton still has a ways to go to make the most of his talent, he is a terrific athlete with the size and strength to become a prodigious scorer at the next level. And given the improvement he showed from his freshman year to his sophomore campaign, he seems to be the type of guy who will put in the necessary work to make the most of his skills.

Jordan Hamilton Could Become an Elite Scorer

Will Translate to the NBA: While shot selection has been a question mark at times, the actual shot is Hamilton’s main strength. He’s got great form, a quick release, range out to well beyond the NBA three-point line and the ever-loving desire to show off that form at a moment’s notice. If Hamilton’s got his feet set, his shot has a very good chance of going in. But better yet, he’s a great shotmaker when he’s not perfectly set and does a great job of making shots that look at first glance to be out of control, a trait that will come in handy when the 24-second clock is waning in the NBA.

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Over the course of the next month until the NBA Draft on June 23, RTC will be rolling out comprehensive profiles of the 35 collegians we feel have the best chance to hear their names called by David Stern in the first round that night. There won’t be any particular order to the list, but you can scroll back through all the finished profiles by clicking here.

Player Name: Shelvin Mack

School: Butler

Height/Weight: 6’2, 210 lbs.

NBA Position: Point Guard

Projected Draft Range: Late First/Early Second Round

Overview: After spending his sophomore season playing in the shadows of Gordon Hayward, Mack emerged as the leader of the Bulldogs along with senior Matt Howard last year. While Howard may have been the public face of the Bulldogs, it was Mack’s stellar play that helped them achieve a similar result to the previous season even without Hayward leading them. As a junior, Mack averaged 16.0 PPG, 4.5 RPG, and 3.4 APG while directing a Butler team that had suddenly become one of the biggest games on every opposing team’s schedule. However, at the same time he started shouldering a heavier load at Butler, his efficiency numbers also plummeted (FG% down from 45.4% to 40.8% and 3FG% down from 39.1% to 35.4%), which is certainly reasonable, but is still concerning for a fairly short point guard who doesn’t possess your typical one-guard skills. The questions surrounding Mack are ones that dog nearly every college guard that is a hybrid between a point guard and shooting guard but lacks the requisite height and/or athleticism to make the player stand out from about a dozen other prospects in the same year. Mack could be a successful player in the NBA, but that will depend on his ability to learn to play point. 

Mack thrived at Butler, but the NBA may be a different story

Will Translate to the NBA: Mack will have to play the point guard position in the NBA. He lacks the size or quickness to play any substantial minutes in the NBA as a shooting guard, but if he doesn’t adapt he can still get a few minutes here and there but his time at the next level will be limited by the fact that he lacks an elite NBA skill to make him stand apart. While Mack may struggle to adapt to the point guard position offensively he should be a solid defender as soon as he gets to the NBA because he already has a pro-ready body and should be able to defend almost any NBA point guard with the exception of uber-athletes like Derrick Rose or Russell Westbrook. Mack will probably be a career back-up, particularly due to the recent resurgence at the point guard position, but could potentially start in a few years if he finds the right situation on a team that can adapt to not having a strong traditional point guard.

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Over the course of the next month until the NBA Draft on June 23, RTC will be rolling out comprehensive profiles of the 35 collegians we feel have the best chance to hear their names called by David Stern in the first round that night. There won’t be any particular order to the list, but you can scroll back through all the finished profiles by clicking here.

Player Name: JaJuan Johnson

School: Purdue

Height/Weight: 6’10/220 lbs.

NBA Position: Power Forward

Projected Draft Range: Late First/Early Second Round

Overview: Perhaps no other senior in this year’s draft class improved his game in four years as did Purdue’s JaJuan Johnson.  Coming out of the prep ranks rated as the 47th best prospect behind such notable other big men as Kosta Koufos, DeAndre Jordan, Herb Pope and Mac Koshwal, Johnson simply put his nose to the grindstone, learning from one of the best in head coach Matt Painter, and developed an all-around game that will ensure he makes a living playing basketball for a very long time.  From an awkward 17-year old contributing a few points and boards in limited action to becoming a dominant senior and joining Purdue’s illustrious history as  a consensus all-american and one of its all-time greats, Johnson arrived in a big way.  His scoring averaged increased by at least two points every season (from 5.3 PPG as a freshman to 20.6 PPG as a senior), and his rebounding average trended likewise (from 3.1 RPG to 8.6 RPG).  He was a career 50.1% shooter as a Boilermaker, and don’t let that number fool you — even as the primary post player in Painter’s system, Johnson developed what was already a solid mid-range game out to the three-point line by the time he finished school.  In other words, he has a proven ability to not only score in the post through a nice fadeaway and a jump hook shot, but  he also can put up points in a more NBA-friendly pick-and-pop situation as well.  Possessing a deft touch and range on that shot will allow him to convert favorably to a sweet-shooting face-up four at the next level — Johnson doesn’t necessarily have to spend his career banging around inside to be successful.

JaJuan Johnson Often Carried Purdue Last Season

Will Translate to the NBA: As discussed in his overview, 6’10 players with the ability to stroke it out to twenty feet are not a dime a dozen.  He has a notably high release on his shot, making it even more difficult for defenders to close out on him (assuming they’ve followed him out that far in the first place).  He also has shown a willingness to improve each and every year, adding additional facets to his game through hard work and dedication in the offseason.  The fact that he comes from a winning program that values defense also doesn’t hurt, although Johnson’s individual defense still needs work. 

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Over the course of the next month until the NBA Draft on June 23, RTC will be rolling out comprehensive profiles of the 35 collegians we feel have the best chance to hear their names called by David Stern in the first round that night. There won’t be any particular order to the list, but you can scroll back through all the finished profiles by clicking here.

Player Name: Markieff Morris

School: Kansas

Height/Weight: 6’9/240 lbs.

NBA Position: Power Forward

Projected Draft Range: Mid-First Round

Overview: Markieff Morris is an intriguing mid-first-round prospect who maintained his defensive prowess throughout college while slowly developing an offensive game for Bill Self’s Jayhawks. Accompanying his brother, Marcus, to Kansas after de-commiting from Memphis, Markieff saw less than 20 minutes per game in his first two seasons, as playing time was hard to find behind his brother and Cole Aldrich. In those limited opportunities, however, he proved terrific defensively, averaging over 11 rebounds per 40 minutes and enforcing the paint with his big body and a mean streak. In his sophomore campaign, his offense started to come around,  learning the ability to finish when his teammates were doubled and boosting his field goal percentage up to 56% in 6.8 PPG. In 2010-11, he impressed with considerably more offensive development, showing range to the three-point line (42%) and solidifying his defensive rep as an edgy rebounding bulldog with a Big 12-leading 8.3 RPG.  He also led the Jayhawks in blocks as a junior, but his improved ability to become a scorer in his junior season helped his team become another #1 seed and a Final Four favorite. At the next level, Morris will need to develop a better one-on-one post game, but he already possesses an effective drop-step move that helps him finish in halfcourt sets.

The Lesser-Known Morris Twin Has Many Talents Himself

Will Translate to the NBA: Morris’ defensive versatility and demonstrated shooting range makes him a very appealing option at power forward, especially with thin big-man competition in this draft class. He has the ability to defend multiple positions and rebound at a productive clip, and those skill sets will always have value to an NBA team. Concerns about his body are non-existent, which can’t be said for other draft candidates at his position like Tobias Harris or Kyle Singler. If given the opportunity, he can show that his gradual improvement in his three collegiate seasons is just the tip of the iceberg.

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Over the course of the next month until the NBA Draft on June 23, RTC will be rolling out comprehensive profiles of the 35 collegians we feel have the best chance to hear their names called by David Stern in the first round that night. There won’t be any particular order to the list, but you can scroll back through all the finished profiles by clicking here.

Player Name: Josh Selby

School: Kansas

Height/Weight:  6’3, 195 lbs.

NBA Position: Shooting Guard

Projected Draft Range:  Late First Round

Overview:  It was perhaps the most anticipated debut of the 2010-11 regular season.  On December 18 against USC, Josh Selby made his long-awaited appearance in a Jayhawk uniform.  The nation’s #1 recruit according to Rivals had spent the regular season to that point on the bench as a result of a nine-game “improper benefits” suspension meted out by the NCAA.  In that first game, Selby immediately appeared to be the best player on the court, going for a game-high 21 points and five rebounds, including a couple of late-game treys (of five makes) that salted the game away.  Those 27 minutes of action were the peak of Josh Selby’s collegiate career.  Through a combination of nagging injuries and Bill Self losing confidence in his talented freshman guard, Selby’s minutes and production steadily declined to the point where he rarely logged 20+ minutes and never saw double-figure scoring in the last thirteen games after Valentine’s Day last season.  His season averages of 7.9 PPG, 2.2 RPG, and 2.2 APG on 37.3% shooting (36.2% from three) shouldn’t impress anyone interested in spending millions of dollars on a young player, but in the modern era of potential over production, Selby will still end up an NBA Draft selection later this month.  His physical tools, athleticism and a sense that the free-flowing pace of the NBA will suit his game better than it did at Kansas ensures that, and it’s not unprecedented.  Several players who had average freshman seasons and declared for the draft later become productive NBA players — Gerald Wallace and Jrue Holiday come immediately to mind — and it’s instructive that both of those guys, like Selby, had exceptional athleticism at their disposal.

Selby Was a Bust at Kansas: What Does That Mean?

Will Translate to the NBA:  The reasons he’ll get drafted are these three numbers:  195, 42, and 3.20.  Even though only one year removed from high school, Selby is a solidly-built 195 pounds.  He’s muscular without being bulky, possessing exactly the kind of guard’s body built to withstand pounding in the lane en route to the hole.  The second number is Selby’s ridiculous vertical jumping ability, best in this year’s draft class.  He doesn’t have unbelievable length, but his hops more than make up for it (his jumping reach maxed out at 11’8, well above the rim).  Finally, his 3.20 speed in the three-quarter court sprint was also among the best in the class — Selby can get up and down the court faster than just about anyone.  Will these physical tools mean Selby becomes a good NBA player — nobody knows for certain, but someone will be willing to risk a pick on him.

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Over the course of the next month until the NBA Draft on June 23, RTC will be rolling out comprehensive profiles of the 35 collegians we feel have the best chance to hear their names called by David Stern in the first round that night. There won’t be any particular order to the list, but you can scroll back through all the finished profiles by clicking here.

Player Name: Tyler Honeycutt

School: UCLA

Height/Weight: 6’8, 187 lbs.

NBA Position: Small Forward

Projected Draft Range: Late First Round

Overview: In his two seasons at UCLA, Honeycutt showed a little bit of everything. He led the Pac-10 in blocked shots as a sophomore, he proved a solid man defender, he’s a capable scorer with a good-looking jumper, he improved his three-point range, he can get in the lane and score, and he’s got great vision and passing ability for a player of his size. Still, Honeycutt leaves Westwood as something of a disappointment. His field goal percentage dropped drastically as a sophomore (from nearly 50% down to almost 40%). His assist-to-turnover ratio fell drastically as well, mostly due to his tendency to turn the ball over way too much (he had eight games with five or more turnovers). And he built a reputation among Bruin faithful as a guy who was more interested in impressing the NBA scouts than he was in winning games. A closer look at some of the numbers shows that Honeycutt’s FG% dropped so precipitously due to the fact that he was taking a lot more perimeter jumpers – after shooting just 29 threes as a freshman, he shot 152 as a sophomore, making 36% of those. And, as a result, his true shooting percentage (taking into account his three-point percentages and his free throw shooting) only dipped from 55% to 52%. But his ballhandling, his decision-making, and his aggressiveness did not improve correspondingly as a sophomore. He turns the ball over both as a result of his clumsy handle and his propensity towards making unnecessary passes, both areas of his game that will need to be shored up before he can contribute at the next level. And, the fact that he is a rail-thin 187 pounds means that until he adds strength, he can be easily overpowered by a large percentage of NBA small forwards. Nevertheless, he is a skilled and talented player who can develop into an NBA player with time and hard work.

Honeycutt Showed Good Upside in His Sophomore Season

Will Translate to the NBA: Despite the fact that he was called upon to handle the ball on a regular basis at UCLA, Honeycutt is comfortable playing off of the ball on offense. His jumper is a finished product – although his percentages haven’t yet peaked – and he is equally proficient as a spot-up shooter or running off of screens. This will make him a viable offensive player in the NBA even as he works to hone his ballhandling and decision-making. Throw in the fact that his long arms and defensive timing should allow him to continue being a shot-blocking threat at the next level and Honeycutt could earn minutes early in his NBA career.

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Player Name: Tobias Harris

School: Tennessee

Height/Weight: 6’7, 225 lbs.

NBA Position: Small/Power Forward

Projected Draft Range: Mid to Late First Round

Harris Can Put It On the Floor, But Needs a Jumper

Overview: In his single season at Tennessee, Tobias Harris ended up as the second leading scorer (15.3 PPG) on a squad that had only two players average double figures for the year (Scotty Hopson, 17.0 PPG). He was the Vols’ most efficient player, posting a 14.4 rating, far ahead of Hopson’s 10.7. His 7.3 boards per game was second on the team by a mere tenth of a carom and ranked him seventh in the SEC. Even though he led his team in blocked shots, he averaged less than a single rejection a game (0.9). He impressed with his handle and especially his strength for such a relatively young player, and he showed an ability to finish in the lane that was better than expected. His biggest drawback, though, was his lack of a formidable jumper, and in his short stint in Knoxville the improvement in his back-to-the-basket post game never materialized.

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Over the course of the next month until the NBA Draft on June 23, RTC will be rolling out comprehensive profiles of the 35 collegians we feel have the best chance to hear their names called by David Stern in the first round that night. There won’t be any particular order to the list, but you can scroll back through all the finished profiles by clicking here.

Player Name: Nolan Smith

School: Duke

Height/Weight: 6’4, 190 lbs.

NBA Position: Point Guard/Shooting Guard

Projected Draft Range: Late First to Early Second Round

Overview: After spending much of the first three and a half years of his time at Duke in the shadows of more prolific scorers, Smith stepped up in the second half of his senior season to become the Blue Devils’ leader while picking up some pretty significant individual hardware — AP 1st team All-American and ACC Player of the Year — along the way. The son of the late Derek Smith, a star at Louisville in the early 1980s, Smith started to show signs of becoming a potential first round pick as a junior when his production jumped from 8.4 points per game as a sophomore to 17.4 the next year while seeing his playing time increase significantly. However, even at that point he was often in the shadows of All-American Kyle Singler and senior Jon Scheyer. He started to show signs of becoming the team’s leader with a series of scintillating summer league performances a year ago that had the nation buzzing, but found himself in a secondary role when the season started thanks to the arrival of Kyrie Irving, the likely #1 pick in this year’s draft. To his credit, Smith continued to play well while not creating too much attention even when Irving dominated the ball. Smith finally got to show his full repertoire when Irving went down with a toe injury early in the season against Butler. From that point forward, he asserted himself as one of the premier guards in recent years and has turned himself from a player that many considered a fringe NBA candidate to one who has a legitimate shot at being a first round pick.

Smith Will Face a Difficult Transition at the Next Level

Will Translate to the NBA: Smith is a prototypical combo guard. He probably won’t become a star, but should be a solid role player for years because of his ability to score in spurts and fill in as a point guard in spots. Smith will struggle to start in the NBA because he isn’t quite a good enough scorer (mainly due to his erratic outside shooting) to compensate for his lack of size as a shooting guard and isn’t a good enough distributor to be a starting NBA point unless he winds up in a situation like Miami where a ‘point forward’ is dominating the ball and distributing. Smith’s solid defense should be effective when defending point guards, but his lack of size will become an issue when he is forced to defend taller shooting guards; that might be ameliorated by the fact that most NBA shooting guards have an annoying tendency not to take smaller guards into the post, preferring to stay on the perimeter despite their obvious advantage.

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