Tag: Kaleb Wesson

Ohio State basketball signee, Devin Royal, named Mr. Basketball in Ohio

Congrats Devin! Looking forward to you making your mark in Columbus. How excited are you to see one of central Ohio’s own play in the Schott? #GoBucks

When [autotag]Ohio State[/autotag] basketball signed their 2023 recruiting class, they were viewed as one of the best classes in the country. It’s an impressive group that will arrive in Columbus shortly.

The Buckeyes have a long list of signees that have won Mr. Basketball in Ohio and today another name was added to that list, Pickerington Central’s [autotag]Devin Royal[/autotag]. The small forward was given the designation of the best basketball player in the state.

Royal joins former Ohio State stars like [autotag]Malaki Branham[/autotag], [autotag]Kaleb Wesson[/autotag], [autotag]Jared Sullinger[/autotag], and others as Buckeyes who have won the award. After winning the state title last year, Pickerington Central will try and repeat this weekend as they face off against Centerville for all the marbles.

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Just think; next season Royal will be doing his thing in a scarlet and gray uniform. We can’t wait to follow his journey.

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Kaleb Wesson decides not to play for Carmen’s Crew

Can’t blame Wesson for this move at all. Good luck to the former OSU big man!

The Basketball Tournament is just around the corner, but rosters are hardly ever set for the winner-take-all annual tournament that the Ohio State alumni team known as Carmen’s Crew showcases itself in. In fact, two bits of roster news became available on Thursday.

First, we reported that the team added former Buckeye forward Kosta Koufos to the mix. His game should mix well in tournament play with his size and ability to shoot the ball. But, in addition to that, team manager Jared Sullinger announced on Twitter that former OSU big man Kaleb Wesson will not play with the team because of an opportunity he has been provided to play in the NBA Summer League.

This comes just a couple of months after Wesson’s addition to the roster was announced. But hey, you certainly can’t blame a guy who’s trying to get his career off the ground to take an opportunity to play against NBA competition.

Wesson would have been a great addition to the team because of his ability to body up in the post and provide some offense on the blocks. That now will be left to returning guys like Jeff Gibbs and Evan Ravenel, in combination with newcomer Julian Mavunga.

Carmen’s Crew is set to begin the next TBT journey on Friday, July 23, at the Covelli Center on the campus of The Ohio State University.

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Kaleb Wesson to join Carmen’s Crew for TBT

Former Ohio State basketball big man Kaleb Wesson will be joining Carmen’s Crew for the next run at glory in The Basketball Tournament.

Over the last few years, the Ohio State alumni team in The Basketball Tournament has been one of the best. Now known as Carmen’s Crew, the team even took home the championship in the 2019 version.

But each year, the roster changes a little, even with most of it being comprised of former Ohio State basketball players. The nucleus of guys like Aaron Craft, Jon Diebler, and William Buford has always been there, but others have rotated in and out in an effort to continue to stay among the best.

This year, though we haven’t gotten official word on the entire roster, it now looks like former Buckeye big man Kaleb Wesson will be joining the team. This, according to an announcement Wesson made on his Jared Sullinger’s Twitter account Tuesday.

“Hey TBT (The Basketball Tournament), Kaleb Wesson here with Carmen’s Crew,” Wesson said. “Really excited to play in front of the hometown fans in Columbus, Ohio again. Buckeye Nation stand up!”

As more comes out on the roster makeup for Carmen’s Crew, we’ll be sure to have it for you. Until then, Go Bucks!

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Report: Warriors signing undrafted free agent Kaleb Wesson to training camp deal

According to Anthony Slater of The Athletic, the Golden State Warriors are signing former Ohio State center Kaleb Wesson to a training camp deal.

Following the additions of Kelly Oubre Jr., Brad Wanamaker and Kent Bazemore, the Golden State Warriors are rounding out their roster before the start of preseason training camp.

After signing French wing Axel Toupane and Louisville’s Dwayne Sutton, the Warriors added another undrafted prospect to a training camp contract. According to Anthony Slater of The Athletic, the Warriors are signing former Ohio State big Kaleb Wesson to a camp deal.

Via @anthonyVslater on Twitter:

The 21-year-old is coming off a three-year stint in Columbus, averaging 12.9 points on 49.5% shooting from the field with seven rebounds, 1.6 assists and 0.8 blocks in 25.8 minutes per game.

Prior to the coronavirus pandemic halting the college basketball season, Wesson was a key piece for Ohio State’s top-25 rated team.

On his way to earning All-Big Ten Second-Team honors in 2020, Wesson notched a near double-double on 14 points and 9.3 rebounds a game. In his final season at Ohio State, Wesson increased his 3-point shooting to 3.4 attempts per game. The Buckeye product averaged 42.5% from beyond the arc in his junior season.

Watch highlights from Wesson’s run at Ohio State via YouTube:

At 6-foot-9, 270 lbs, Wesson will add another piece to Golden State’s restructured frontcourt with James Wiseman, Marquese Chriss, Kevon Looney and Alen Smailagic. Wesson will likely compete for a two-way contract with Sutton and Toupane.

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Kaleb Wesson reportedly signs camp deal with Golden State Warriors

Former Ohio State big man Kaleb Wesson has reportedly signed a free-agent camp deal with the Golden State Warriors.

According to reports, former Ohio State big man Kaleb Wesson has signed a deal to participate in camp with the Golden State Warriors.

Wesson opted for the NBA after his junior season last season but went undrafted in the two rounds of this year’s draft. He was on many expert analysts’ big boards but a coin flip of whether or not he would be taken right towards the end of all the teams picking.

It didn’t happen, and Wesson was left to contemplate his professional basketball future. He could wait it out in hopes of getting a shot with an NBA team via the undrafted free agent route or look overseas to live a very comfortable life.

For now, it looks like the former, and we’ll have to stay on top of how things go out West for Wesson. Anthony Slater of The Athletic was the first to report the news.

So, good on Wesson. We hope he gets a shot in camp and shows that shooting touch, footwork, and improved agility he focused on during the offseason last year. If he can make an impression on the Warrior brass and coaches, maybe he can find a role in the NBA still.

 

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Kaleb Wesson unselected in the 2020 NBA Draft

Ohio State big man Kaleb Wesson was not selected in the 2020 NBA Draft Wednesday night and will need to wait on a free agent opportunity.

The wait is over. But it didn’t end the way that former Ohio State big man Kaleb Wesson wanted.

For the 6-foot, 9-inch, 270-pounder, what comes next in his quest to start up a professional basketball career will continue. Wesson flirted with leaving early after his sophomore season but eventually decided to come back one more year. He re-shaped his body, showed improved footwork and a newfound ability to step outside and hit shots from deep.

But still, his name was not called on Wednesday night during the two-round 2020 NBA Draft.

Wesson was a force on the inside and beyond for Ohio State, leading the team in rebounds, points, three-point percentage, and blocks. He may be seen as a bit of a tweener in the league, but with more European players making a splash in the evolving NBA, you felt good about Wesson filling a niche role with some NBA squad.

But it didn’t happen despite being ranked inside the top 40 of some NBA Draft big boards.

Where is Ohio State's Kaleb Wesson on the Rookie Wire's NBA big board?
Credit: Mike Carter-USA TODAY Sports

There’s a good chance that Wesson gets signed on as a free agent with an NBA team and will be given a look. That, or he’ll end up finding a nice home somewhere overseas where many very, very good basketball players live an extremely blessed life.

We’ll keep watching to see what happens with the next chapter for Wesson. Once a Buckeye, always a Buckeye.

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Rookie Wire updates Ohio State big man Kaleb Wesson’s ranking on its 2020 NBA Draft big board

We are just a couple of days away from the 2020 NBA Draft and Rookie Wire has updated its big board. Where is Ohio State’s Kaleb Wesson?

We’re getting closer and closer to the delayed and modified 2020 NBA Draft. In fact, we’re just a couple of days away from the virtual event that will come to your television sets and streaming devices on Wednesday. And yeah, Ohio State could have a horse in the race.

That’s because former big man Kaleb Wesson is projected to have a shot at being drafted somewhere in the two rounds of the draft. Opinions vary on when and if he’ll be taken, but we’ve been following it closely.

One site that we’ve been watching is Rookie Wire as things have progressed from the end of the college basketball season all the way through this week. Writer Brad Kalbrosky has been all over the news and projections of where the prospects will go this year, and he believes Wesson may sneak in there and has him projected on his big board of available draftees.

But where on the list does Wesson fall?

NEXT … Kaleb Wesson’s projected draft position and team

Pages: Page 1, Page 2

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.

Kaleb Wesson NBA Draft Combine Results: Comparing to Nikola Vucevic

Ohio State Buckeyes big Kaleb Wesson participated in the 2020 NBA Draft virtual combine process. His results bring interesting comparisons.

Ohio State Buckeyes big Kaleb Wesson participated in the 2020 NBA Draft virtual combine process. His results bring interesting comparisons.

Wesson played three years for Ohio State before declaring early entry for the 2020 NBA draft. The prospect reportedly weighed 289 pounds at the end of his sophomore season but has cut that to 252 pounds at the combine.

He also measured at 6’9.25″ without shoes on as well as a 7’3.5″ wingspan and 9’3.5″ standing reach.  Full results for the 21-year-old big man can be found below.

(Obtained by Rookie Wire via league source)

We plugged the results into the database at NBAthlete.com, which yielded some interesting comparisons and similarity scores for Wesson.

Based on all of his scores and his measurements, the two most similar big men yielded were Orlando Magic big man Nikola Vucevic (2010) and two-time gold medalist DeMarcus Cousins (2011).

Vucevic and Cousins were both first-round picks and have been NBA All-Stars during their professional careers thus far.

(via NBAthlete.com)

Cousins was a one-and-done prospect, so it is harder to compare the two outside of their combine results, but Vucevic is a particularly interesting comparison for Wesson for on-court production as well.

Vucevic and Wesson both played three seasons in the NCAA before they declared for the NBA draft, which suggests they were at similar points of their development.

Below, we can see the similarities between the two players during their junior years of college.

(via nbadraftcomp.herokuapp.com)

Note that all statistics above were recorded per 40 minutes, adjusting for total playing time.

Across the board, the numbers were strikingly similar and more often than not Wesson actually has Vucevic beat in points, rebounds, assists and steals. Wesson, on the other hand, turned the ball over more often and also recorded more fouls per game.

Credit: USA TODAY Sports Media Group’s Rookie Wire

The most compelling difference in favor of the Ohio State product is that Wesson average more than triple the output from 3-point range that Vucevic did — while also managing to shoot at a considerably better percentage as well.

These results are particularly interesting because Vucevic was selected at No. 16 overall in the 2011 NBA draft. Vucevic was selected to his first All-Star team in 2019 and signed a four-year, $100 million deal to remain with the Magic.

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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.