Three Former College Players Who Will Have Successful NBA Careers

As all of you know by now, I am a huge college basketball fanatic. Of course I love watching players who benefit from playing for some of the greatest coaches in college basketball history, but I like to focus more on players who continue to fly under the radar, despite their brilliant play. After watching the NBA draft last Thursday I anticipated that many would be fixated on the players drafted early in the first round. Instead of following their lead, I decided to talk about a few players who were either drafted in the second round, or undrafted who will have successful NBA careers when it is all said and done. 

The first player that I want to discuss is Carsen Edwards from Purdue University. I am sure that many, including myself expected Edwards to get drafted in the first round after his incredible showing in the NCAA tournament, but instead he fell to the 76ers at the 33rd pick and was then traded to the Celtics. In my opinion the two things that caused Edwards to fall to the second round were his size and questionable shot selection. While he makes up for it with his superb athleticism, he measured in at 5 feet, 10 3/4 inches without shoes, and 6 foot in shoes at the NBA combine. That is not the ideal height for an NBA point guard, but I believe that Edwards will prove that it will not be an issue in the pros. He gets great elevation on his jumpshot, and has the ability to finish at the rim with contact. Not to mention the fact he has the ability to take over a game at any point in time, because of his tremendous shot making ability. If he catches fire from deep like he did against Virginia in the elite 8, knocking down 10 threes, it makes him virtually impossible to guard 1 on 1. However, he does have the tendency to take difficult, contested shots throughout the course of a game. To me, this will not be a problem for Edwards in the NBA, because other players will not be as dependent on him to score at a high level. He will playing alongside others who have the ability to create for themselves and others, which will allow him to let the game come to him, instead of trying to force the issue. During his junior season at Purdue he averaged 24.3 points per game, so its clear that Edwards is a guy who knows how to put the ball in the basket. In the NBA he will have to show that he can be a much more efficient scorer, who doesn’t need to take thirty shots a game to score thirty points. I am not saying that Edwards will be a superstar in this league, but he definitely has the opportunity to become a player who can come off the bench and provide instant offense for a Celtics team who may be struggling to get it going.

The next player I want to touch on, who was drafted by the Celtics at the 51st pick is Tremont Waters from LSU. If you have read some of my other blog posts, then you know that I am a huge fan of Waters’ game for obvious reasons. Similar to Edwards, Waters is undersized at 5″11, but he makes up for it in other areas. He is an extremely crafty point guard who has the ability to create for himself and others. He can knock down the three, shoot the midrange jumper, break down his defender and finish at the rim in a variety of ways, and make the right read in transition. Oh, and did I mention that he can get to wherever he wants on the floor because of his ability to change speeds? because that’s kind of important to know. During his time at LSU, Waters averaged 15.5 points per game and 5.8 assists, which shows that he is a pass first point guard, who has the ability to score if his number is called. In college when teams would begin to go on runs, Waters would never get rattled. Instead he would always stay poised, and make a play that would make you forget about any boneheaded mistakes he may have made earlier in the game. The one knock on Waters, other than his size is his decision making at times. In the NBA he will have to do a much better job of taking care of the ball, and making the easy pass, instead of the homerun pass. I don’t think Waters will be able to come in and put points on the board right away, but I think he will be able to lead the second unit of an NBA team if it doesn’t work out with the Celtics, and serve as more of a facilitator than a scorer. When the game gets out of control, you can count on Waters to settle everyone down, and ensure that the team gets a good look on the offensive end.

The last player that I want to talk about, who went undrafted this year is Kyran Bowman from Boston College. Now many of you may be sitting there asking yourself who the heck is that? But real diehard college basketball fans know who he is, and what he’s capable of doing on the court. Bowman has proven over the past three years that he is one of the nations most dynamic guards. In the beginning of his college career at Boston College, Bowman saw himself coming off the bench as opposed to starting, even though he was clearly the better guard. Instead of sulking, or transferring to another university Bowman stuck it out and waited until it was his turn to shine. When the starting point guard, Ty Graves transferred because he saw his playing time start to dwindle, Bowman took full advantage of the opportunity. In his first year at Boston College, Bowman averaged 14.3 points per game and 2.9 assists. In his sophomore season he averaged 17.6 points per game and 4.7 assists, including a 30 point outing against #1 ranked Duke. And in his junior season he averaged 19.6 points per game and 4.0 assists. Bowman went undrafted this year, but I still believe that he will make an NBA roster. I think that Bowman will have a successful career in the NBA because of his elite athleticism, and playmaking ability. If you want to survive in the NBA as a point guard, you have to show that you can make the right play off of a ball screen, and that is something that Bowman excels at. If he sees an opening he has the speed and quickness to be able to turn the corner and make a play at the rim. And if the big man comes up and cuts Bowman off, he has the ability to hit the open man inside for an easy basket. He is also a superb on ball defender who can keep his man in front of him, and make life difficult for opposing guards. The two areas of improvement for Bowman would be decision making, and ball handling. At Boston college Bowman would be too loose with the ball at times which would lead to turnovers. He would definitely benefit from having a tighter handle, and being able to read defenses at a higher level. If given a chance, I think that Bowman could be a guy who will give you valuable minutes off the bench, and maximum effort on both ends of the floor.