After a crazy week of college basketball where we saw three of the top four teams lose, I can’t think of a better way to start off the new week then to give you my prospect who is a lock to be a lottery pick this week, a prospect who’s stock is currently on the bubble, and a prospect who’s stock is on the rise as of the week of January 21st.
Lock: RJ Barrett (G) Duke
RJ Barrett is a 6’7 202 pound guard that was highly thought about going into the 2018-2019 NCAA men’s basketball season. The number one recruit in the 2018 recruiting class decided to attend the University of Duke, and has not disappointed one bit during his stint so far in Durham. Barrett in his two games this week averaged 26.5 PPG to go along with 10.5 RPG and 6 APG.
Duke has a good talented guard prospect here in Barrett, and he is very well going to be a one and done player. He will take his talents to the NBA Draft where he will be a top two/three selection in the 2019 NBA Draft.
Bubble: Darius Garland (G) Vanderbilt
Darius Garland is a 6’2 175 pound freshman guard out of the University of Vanderbilt, and in the five games that he played this season before getting hurt he looked like a bonafide lottery pick. Since the injury we have seen Garland’s stock slowly take a hit, and right now is on the bubble as a lottery pick. One thing Garland has going for him is that he did average 16.2 PPG and shot 54 percent from the field to go along with 48 percent from beyond the arc.
Look for Garland’s meniscus injury to be a cause of concern for some NBA teams looking at Garland, and he may end up taking another season in college to try and maybe get that stock even higher than it could be in this draft class. If Garland does declare in the NBA Draft look for him to be on the bubble as of right now, with a chance to be a lottery pick if he is healthy enough to participate in the NBA Draft Combine.
On The Rise: Daniel Gafford (C) Arkansas
Daniel Gafford is a 6’11 233 pound sophomore center, who was very highly regarded as a lottery prospect in the 2018 NBA Draft class. Gafford decided to take his talents back to the University of Arkansas for his sophomore season, and it has shown that it is paying dividends. In his sophomore season Gafford is averaging 16.5 PPG which is a 4.7 PPG increase from his freshman season and is adding 9.4 RPG which is a 3.2 RPG increase from his freshman season.
One thing Gafford has to work on is his free throw shooting, but other than that huge signs of progress has been made by the sophomore center. Look for Gafford’s stock to rise even more as we are in conference play, and he plays in one of the toughest conferences in the country.
Chris Jones (@cjoneswho1212 on twitter)
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