Tag: Elijah Hughes

Elijah Hughes is the sleeper of the USC Class of 2023

Elijah Hughes is drawing some very favorable comparisons as he prepares to become a USC Trojan.

The early signing period ran its course with the Trojans signing 19 of their 20 commitments in the 2023 cycle, the No. 11 class nationally.

Three-star Arlington (VA) defensive lineman Elijah Hughes may be the most underrated USC Trojan commit in the 2023 class.

The lineman announced his commitment to USC over Virginia Tech and Stanford last week. I expect Hughes to be an All-Pac-12 player next season for the Trojans.

At Liberty HS (Arlington, VA) Hughes led his defense with 113 tackles and 13 sacks. The Trojans will need Hughes to play sooner rather than later with Stanley Ta’ufo’ou being the only experienced nose tackle/defensive tackle on their roster.

Trojans now have three interior defensive line commits in this 2023 class in Sam Greene (St. Frances Academy/Baltimore, Md.), Deijon Laffitte (Colony HS/Ontario, Calif.), and Hughes.

I expect Hughes — currently at 6-foot-3, 265 pounds — to add on weight and play the 3-tech inside for the Trojans next season and beyond.

USC did recently add a commitment from Arizona defensive line transfer Kyon Barrs. All-American Tuli Tuipulotu’s future is still up in the air, but he is expected to depart for the NFL.

Hughes showed great versatility in high school and generated pass rush production from a variety of positions and techniques. Hughes’ tape reminds me heavily of former first-round pick and current New York Jet Solomon Thomas, formerly of Stanford.

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2020 NBA Draft Big Board 5.0: Final update ranking Top 100 prospects

After numerous delays and postponements, front offices and draftniks have had more time to analyze the 2020 NBA draft than any previous year.

After numerous delays and postponements, front offices and draftniks have had more time to analyze the 2020 NBA draft than any previous year.

Originally scheduled for June, the ongoing pandemic pushed the big night back by five months. While this may cause some teams to overthink their decisions, it gave analysts plenty of time to study all of the top prospects eligible in this class.

This year, players had to participate in a mostly virtual pre-draft process. On the bright side, this meant that teams had the opportunity to interview more candidates than ever before.

However, the number of in-person visits were incredibly limited due to the restrictive parameters set by the league. Similarly, the NBA draft combine was conducted without the typical scrimmages where players can separate themselves from the others with impressive on-court performances.

Overall, the players that stood out in this pre-draft process had a different path to recognition than any other year. College basketball players did not have the opportunity to showcase themselves during March Madness. The nation’s top seniors did not get to participate in the Portsmouth Invitational Tournament.

As such, executives will rely mostly on the existing game footage as well as the intel they gathered during their conversations with the prospects. We also depended on similar strategies, getting access to one-on-one interviews with more than three dozen prospects and exchanging our thoughts with various scouts across the league.

This helped us put together our final big board, looking at the Top 100 players ranked on their potential to make a difference for teams in the NBA.

Relevant statistics were pulled from Synergy Sports Tech, Bart-Torvik, KenPom, Open Look Analytics and RealGM. Note that the age listed for each player references how old they will be on the night of the draft.

2020 NBA aggregate mock draft 8.0: Draft day ranges for top prospects

The 2020 NBA draft is fairly unpredictable and prospects have wider ranges in where they could get selected when it is all said and done. 

The 2020 NBA draft is fairly unpredictable and prospects have wider ranges in where they could get selected when it is all said and done.

We looked at mock drafts from NBADraft.net, ESPN, The Athletic, Bleacher Report, CBS Sports, The Ringer, Stadium, SI.com, USA TODAY Sports Media Group’s Rookie Wire, USA Today and Yahoo to give us a more clear understanding of consensus rankings and projections.

This also provided context for realistic high-end and low-end predictions for the players most often included in mock drafts.

Please note that the range included for each player is not based on our own reporting or intel and it only reflects the data pulled from the various mock drafts.

The full list of our latest aggregate mock draft rankings can be found here. HoopsHype’s Alberto de Roa contributed research to this report.

2020 NBA aggregate mock draft 8.0: Draft day ranges for top prospects

The 2020 NBA draft is fairly unpredictable and prospects have wider ranges in where they could get selected when it is all said and done. 

The 2020 NBA draft is fairly unpredictable and prospects have wider ranges in where they could get selected when it is all said and done.

We looked at mock drafts from NBADraft.net, ESPN, The Athletic, Bleacher Report, CBS Sports, The Ringer, Stadium, SI.com, USA TODAY Sports Media Group’s Rookie Wire, USA Today and Yahoo to give us a more clear understanding of consensus rankings and projections.

This also provided context for realistic high-end and low-end predictions for the players most often included in mock drafts.

Please note that the range included for each player is not based on our own reporting or intel and it only reflects the data pulled from the various mock drafts.

The full list of our latest aggregate mock draft rankings can be found here. HoopsHype’s Alberto de Roa contributed research to this report.

Sports Illustrated mock draft: Thunder take Isaiah Stewart, Elijah Hughes

In Sports Illustrated’s mock draft, the Oklahoma City Thunder took Washington center Isaiah Stewart and Syracuse wing Elijah Hughes.

The Oklahoma City Thunder have had a handful of mock drafts recommend taking Washington wing Jaden McDaniels.

Sports Illustrated’s Jeremy Woo went with a different Husky: center Isaiah Stewart.

Stewart, listed at 6-foot-9 and 250 pounds, averaged 17.0 points and 8.8 rebounds for Washington while shooting 58% from the field last season.

Woo writes:

“Stewart’s energy, toughness and physicality make him a good fit for the Thunder here, and although he’s more of a traditional garbage-man type up front, his strong intangibles make it unlikely he falls out of the first round. He’s big, long, and willing to do the dirty work, and even though Washington had a disappointing season, he was productive.”

In drafting a center with the No. 25 pick, the Thunder would have a replacement for Nerlens Noel, who is an unrestricted free agent this offseason.

They could also take a look at Stewart to see if he can be a replacement for Steven Adams once the longtime Thunder center’s contract expires following the 2020-21 season.

One interesting thing to watch for once Stewart starts his NBA career: Stewart shot above 40% from 3 in his senior year of high school, but at Washington, he only attempted 20 shots from deep.

“Stewart should be able to make an impact as a low-maintenance rotation piece, particularly if he starts to shoot better from outside, and he’s the type of guy worth betting on to make the most of his ability.”

In the second round of Woo’s mock draft, Oklahoma City got a player some project to be a late-first-round pick.

Syracuse wing Elijah Wings was there at No. 53 in Woo’s mock, so the Thunder snagged him.

Hughes averaged 19 points per game last season, leading the ACC in scoring. He knocked down 34% of his 3s, which is not excellent, but he took them at such a high rate (7.1 per game) and had such high usage that he projects to be better from deep than his final year.

In 2018-19, Hughes made 36.9% of his 3s while attempted 6.9 per game.

If he can last until No. 53, Oklahoma City could get a very usable option at wing to spread the floor better than any other at that position currently on the roster.

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2020 aggregate NBA mock draft 5.0: International prospects are rising

Scouting and preparing for the upcoming 2020 NBA Draft is incredibly challenging due to circumstances surrounding the coronavirus pandemic.

Scouting and preparing for the upcoming 2020 NBA draft is incredibly challenging due to circumstances surrounding the coronavirus pandemic.

As always, we examine the mock drafts from the most trusted analysts to give us the best idea of a consensus for what the upcoming class will look like in June. The latest 2020 NBA mock drafts from experts at ESPN, CBS Sports, SI.com, Bleacher Report, NBADraft.net, The Athletic, SB Nation, Sporting News and USA Today Sports Media Group’s Rookie Wire were used for these rankings.

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Currently, the first three players expected to be selected (Anthony Edwards, LaMelo Ball, James Wiseman) have remained in the exact same order for the third aggregate mock draft in a row.

After dropping from No. 5 all the way to No. 11 between December and January, Maccabi Tel Aviv forward Deni Avdija has jumped back to No. 4 for this version.

He played well recently at the 2020 Eurobasket Qualifiers, scoring 21 points with eight rebounds, two assists, one block and one steal while also shooting 3-for-6 from beyond the arc. This was a welcome change of pace for scouts hoping to learn as much as possible about Avdija as he had averaged just 4.0 points in 14.3 minutes in Euroleague games earlier this season.

Several other prospects playing overseas have seen their stock increase as well. This makes some sense considering many in the NCAA rely on their performance in March Madness to solidify their draft position whereas the international players gain momentum in other ways.

Killian Hayes, who was ranked No. 18 overall on our last aggregate mock draft, jumped up to No. 8 for this edition. The 6-foot-5 guard was 14-for-61 (39 percent) from 3-point range while also connecting on 90.9 percent of his free-throw attempts during Eurocup action. Several outlets are currently projecting him as a Top 5 pick in the 2020 NBA draft.

Another prospect playing outside of the United States but currently making waves is Leandro Bolmaro. He debuted on our aggregate mock draft in the most recent edition before this one but has jumped all the way to No. 29 this time around.

Meanwhile, in the NCAA, some college basketball players managed to make some serious momentum for themselves before the season was unexpectedly cut short. Some of those players are seniors Killian Tillie (Gonzaga), Grant Riller (Charleston), Udoka Azubuike (Kansas) and Desmond Bane (TCU).

As mentioned here, it makes sense for upperclassmen to be more appealing in this class than in previous years. Seniors have far more game film to draw film which may be necessary considering individual team workouts and even the 2020 NBA Draft Combine may be canceled. Plus, older players are likely more ready to contribute immediately.

On the flip side, there are freshmen around the country who have seen their draft stock drastically decline in recent months.

Oregon’s N’Faly Dante has fallen off our boards completely after playing just twelve games and making no appearances in the starting lineup. Kahlil Whitney, who was considered a lottery pick when we did this exercise in October 2019, also dropped off after withdrawing from Kentucky.

Some other freshmen who saw their draft stock fall: Duke’s Matthew Hurt was ranked No. 16 overall back in October but is now at No. 76 overall. LSU’s Trendon Watford was ranked No. 14 in October but has fallen to No. 63. Florida’s Scottie Lewis was No. 9 in July and is currently No. 53 overall.

Less drastic but still valid: Arizona’s Nico Mannion has fallen from No. 6 back in January 2020 all the way to No. 16 now in April. Likewise, UNC’s Cole Anthony dropped from No. 2 back in July 2019 to No. 10 in our new study.

But some encouraging news for prospects who were considered Top-25 recruits coming out of high school but had a disappointing freshman year (e.g. Duke’s Wendell Moore as well as the aforementioned Dante, Whitney, Watford, Hurt and Lewis) can be found in Kentucky’s Immanuel Quickley.

The 6-foot-3 guard was the No. 13 overall recruit in the nation coming into Kentucky as a freshman. But after averaging just 5.2 points as a freshman, he returned for his sophomore campaign.

Fortunately, the SEC Player of the Year dramatically improved his draft stock in 2019-20. His season was highlighted by 21.3 points per game in February and a free throw percentage (92.3%) that ranked as the sixth-best among all underclassmen. This month, he debuted on our aggregate mock draft at No. 42 overall.

HoopsHype’s Alberto de Roa contributed research to this report.

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2020 NBA mock draft: Obi Toppin, LaMelo Ball offer intrigue

Rookie Wire breaks down the film and crunches all the relevant statistics to predict all 60 picks of the 2020 NBA Draft.

Like much of the world right now, the 2020 NBA Draft is full of uncertainty due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The cancellation of the NCAA Tournament changes the evaluation process and denies NBA teams the opportunity to see how players react to the pressure of performing on college basketball’s biggest stage. Nevertheless, scouts and front offices are doing their homework on this year’s top prospects.

As of now, the draft remains scheduled for June 25 at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn. However, the event could be pushed back in reaction to the pandemic.

Meantime, our two-round mock draft accounts for potential fit for every team that currently owns picks. Some teams, such as the Philadelphia 76ers, New Orleans Pelicans and Boston Celtics, have enough picks to trade up or turn them into higher picks for future years. Others, such as the Golden State Warriors, may want to trade down to select a player based on roster fit.

That said, we made our selections without trying to predict trades.

A few quick notes: Some notable freshmen (such as Florida’s Scottie Lewis, Villanova’s Jeremiah Robinson-Earl and Duke’s Wendell Moore and Matthew Hurt) have been omitted because Rookie Wire expects them to return to school.

Similarly, top juniors (such as San Diego State’s Malachi Flynn, Iowa’s Luka Garza, Georgetown’s Omer Yurtseven) were excluded because we expect them to return for their senior year.

Generally speaking, players who have already declared for the draft or are testing the waters were given priority over prospects who we may rate a bit higher but have not officially put the name into the draft pool.

Draft order is based on NBA standings when the league went on hiatus.

1. Golden State Warriors: Anthony Edwards, Georgia

Dale Zanine-USA TODAY Sports

Wing, 6-foot-5, 18 years old

The Warriors, obviously, have little need for a player who needs the ball in his hands as often as Anthony Edwards does. But the SEC Freshman of the Year arguably has the most star power of anyone in this draft class. Edwards averaged a strong 21.8 points per game in February and is a highlight-reel in transition. Edwards could conceivably be traded, which would allow Golden State to collect another asset while also selecting a player (perhaps either Obi Toppin or Deni Avdija) who fits better with the Warriors’ core.

Second pick | Third pick | Fourth pick | Fifth pick | Remainder of lottery | Remainder of first round | Second round

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Updated list of NCAA prospects who declared early entry for NBA Draft

While there is uncertainty surrounding the upcoming 2020 NBA Draft, NCAA prospects have started to make announcements about their future.

While there is uncertainty surrounding the upcoming 2020 NBA Draft, NCAA prospects have started to make announcements about their future.

Some prospects mentioned below are simply testing the waters while others have both feet fully emerged with their focus set on the pros. Based on all of the reporting thus far, however, we have compiled the status of several of the top prospects in the nation.

We will continue to update this post with more information as news develops and more players announce what their decision for the future looks like in all of the chaos following the cancelation of the 2020 NCAA postseason.

Anthony Edwards, Georgia

Dale Zanine-USA TODAY Sports

Wing, 6-foot-5, 18 years old

Under head coach Tom Crean, the University of Georgia freshman had become a revelation in transition offense. Edwards ranked among the top five nationally in total scoring on these plays, per Synergy, averaging 5.7 points per game. He looked his best when his shot attempts come closer to the rim, aided by his 6-foot-9 wingspan. Farther from the basket, meanwhile, more than half of his 3-pointers were unassisted. This showed he is capable of creating his own shot. Edwards, however, was shooting just 30.3% from beyond the arc on the season.Still, the reason to like him as a top-three pick is more about flashes of greatness, which was evidenced when he averaged 21.8 points per game in February.

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