Former Colorado men’s basketball point guard KJ Simpson kept his legs fresh since the end of his junior season with the Buffaloes, jumping 40.5 inches in the max vertical drill at the 2024 NBA draft combine on Monday.
The 6-foot-2 guard’s big leap marked among the combine’s highest but was no surprise to those who watched his college career. Simpson’s measurement sat only 1.5 inches behind Reed Sheppard’s (Kentucky), Keshad Johnson’s (Arizona) and Trentyn Flowers’ (NBL), who all notched a combine-best 42-inch max vertical leap.
Simpson has reportedly performed well throughout Monday’s athletic testing, per DraftExpress director of scouting Jon Chepkevich.
A good showing at the combine could boost Simpson’s draft stock, which currently projects him as an early second-round pick. Simpson emerged as a potential first-round pick this past season with the Buffs. He earned first-team All-Pac-12 honors and made a strong case for the final Pac-12 Player of the Year award while leading Colorado to a program-record 26 wins.
The results of fellow former Buffs Cody Williams, Tristan da Silva and Nique Clifford have yet to be released.
Colorado’s KJ Simpson with a 40.5” max vert (2nd best mark so far) here at the NBA Draft Combine.
Having a very strong showing across the board in today’s athletic testing. pic.twitter.com/v6ltMMjeyS
— Jon Chepkevich (@JonChep) May 13, 2024
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