Tag: Karim Mane

What if? Reflecting back on Michigan State basketball’s 2020 and 2021 recruiting misses and what could have been

We looked at 4 former recruiting targets who were heavily linked to the Spartans and where they are now

In 2023, things are looking quite bright for Michigan State basketball. The Spartans just made their first Sweet Sixteen in the NCAA Tournament since 2019 and are considered one of the favorites to make the Final Four this upcoming season.

However, while watching Emoni Bates play well for the Cleveland Cavaliers NBA summer league squad, I’ve been reflecting on that era of MSU basketball recruitment, not just with Bates, but with some other names that were linked to the Spartans around that time.

Below, I take a look at four players who were heavily linked the Spartans during that era, and where they went since choosing not to come to MSU, and also some thoughts on what could have been.

Contact/Follow us @The SpartansWire on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Michigan state news, notes, and opinion. You can also follow Andrew Brewster on Twitter @IAmBrewster.

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Magic rookie Karim Mane feeling more comfortable after G League stint

Mane credited his time in the G League on getting more comfortable as he believes he got better every game with Lakeland.

Fresh off of winning the NBA G League championship, rookie Karim Mane recently re-joined the Orlando Magic as the team progresses through the second half of the regular season.

Of course, Mane, who is signed to a two-way contract, helped lead the Lakeland Magic to a win over the Delaware Blue Coats on March 11 to claim the team’s first championship. He averaged 5.5 points, 5.2 rebounds and two assists in 15 games played during the regular season.

The time spent with Lakeland helped Mane improve on his overall game after playing sparingly with Orlando prior to the G League season. Mane believes he is more comfortable on the court now and credited that to his stint with Lakeland.

“It got me learning a lot on and off the court, especially (talking to) the general managers and to the assistant coaches,” Mane said on Tuesday. “Just talking to them about everything about the game and just how to be a pro. I learned a lot on and off the court. It was really big for me. Playing those kinds of minutes, getting the experience and getting out there, getting comfortable and playing through mistakes and learning everything game. I think I got better every single game.”

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Mane returns to a Magic team that has dropped eight consecutive games and has dealt with several injuries to key players. The team expects to have players like Aaron Gordon and Evan Fournier back soon but the addition of Mane will give the group some more depth in the meantime.

While not every organization opted to field a team in the G League bubble, the Magic certainly felt as though it was worth the financial cost and that resulted in a title and the development of several players.

This post originally appeared on Rookie Wire! Follow us on Facebook!

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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.

Report: Nets met with prep-to-pro prospect Karim Mane

The Brooklyn Nets have now met with two prep-to-pro prospects ahead of the 2020 NBA draft.

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So far, the Brooklyn Nets have been linked to ninth draft prospects in some form.

Of those eight players, five are taking the traditional path from the college ranks to the NBA: Maryland big man Jalen Smith, TCU sharpshooter Desmond Bane, Memphis forward Precious Achiuwa, Stanford guard Tyrell Terry and Kentucky guard Immanuel Quickley.

Two others started their professional basketball careers overseas to prepare for the NBA: New Zealand Breakers guard RJ Hampton and SE Melbourne wing Terry Armstrong.

Then there’s Moravian Prep wing Josh Hall, who, up until recently, had been the only prep-to-pro prospect who’d been linked to Brooklyn.

But another name has been added to that list: Karim Mane.

According to Jake Weingarten of Stockrisers, the Nets are one of the 25-plus teams who’ve met with the 6-foot-5 20-year-old.

Mane had offers to play at the collegiate level for Kansas, Marquette, Maryland, Texas, Michigan State, Wake Forest, and Xavier, per ESPN.

If the Nets were to select Mane, it would be with their second-round selection (No. 55).

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.

Back in April, five-star Canadian combo …

Back in April, five-star Canadian combo guard Karim Mane placed Pitt in his top five alongside DePaul, Marquette, Memphis and Michigan State. However, Mane then entered the 2020 NBA draft, and although there was initially some doubt he would go through with forgoing college altogether, he decided on Thursday to remain in the draft, according Jonathan Givony of ESPN. “I want to thank all the schools that recruited me over the last couple of years,” Mane told Givony. “Today I’m blessed to let the world know that I decided to pursue my dreams and remain in the 2020 NBA draft.”

Michigan State basketball recruiting target Karim Mane to stay in NBA Draft

The five-star point guard was considering Michigan State among other schools.

One moving part for the 2020 Michigan State men’s basketball season has settled in.

Five-star Canadian point guard Karim Mané has told ESPN that he will be signing with an agent and keeping his name in the 2020 NBA Draft.

Mané, who is eligible for the draft as a 19-year-old international prospect, was reported to be heavily interested in attending Michigan State if he elected to remove his name from the draft. Marquette, Memphis, DePaul, and Pittsburgh were also involved in the six-foot-five point guard’s recruitment. Mané is projected as a late second round pick or undrafted free agent in the 2020 NBA Draft.

Michigan State will head into 2020 with sophomore Rocket Watts, junior Foster Loyer, and freshman AJ Hoggard all as options at point guard.

MSU is still waiting on whether or not Xavier Tillman and Aaron Henry will return to school or stay in the draft. They have until August 3 to decide.

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