Tag: Keve Aluma

Keve Aluma: ‘Relentless would be one word to describe my game’

Rookie Wire recently caught up with Aluma to discuss the pre-draft process, what he is looking to showcase to teams and much more.

Keve Aluma got a late start to playing basketball, but the former Virginia Tech standout is now on the verge of finding a place in the NBA after two strong seasons with the Hokies.

Aluma grew up playing soccer first and hadn’t paid much attention to basketball. However, standing at 6-foot-7 in high school, basketball offers started to come in and Aluma decided to make the switch and transition from the soccer field to the hardwood.

He played the first two years of his collegiate career for Mike Young at Wofford, averaging 4.8 points and 5.2 rebounds in that span. When Young left Wofford for Virginia Tech, Aluma followed him to Blacksburg to continue his career.

The decision to transfer catapulted his career to the next level.

Aluma earned back-to-back appearances on the All-ACC second team after posting 15.5 points, 7.1 rebounds, two assists and 1.1 blocked shots over his final two years. He led the Hokies in scoring in each season en route to two consecutive appearances in the NCAA Tournament.

Now, Aluma is looking to continue his momentum to the next level.

The 6-foot-8 forward has been training with other prospects at Impact Basketball in Las Vegas, Nevada. He has also worked out for teams like the Atlanta Hawks, Sacramento Kings and Washington Wizards among others, and has several more to go.

Rookie Wire recently caught up with Aluma to discuss the pre-draft process, what he is looking to showcase to teams, his collegiate career and much more.

Please note: This interview was minorly edited in its transcript for clarity

Quinton Mayo: Wizards pre-draft …

Quinton Mayo: Wizards pre-draft workouts Day 2: Johnny Davis Collin Gillespie Kofi Cockburn Quenton Jackson Keve Aluma Justin Bean Marcus Bingham Jr. Feedback from team source: – Jackson KILLED. Got a ton of buckets, tough ones – Davis was good but shooting was “just ok” – Gillespie is a dog pic.twitter.com/CTtCKs8gR7

Alabama senior Keon Ellis among prospects to work out for Hawks

Ellis, who was named to the SEC All-Defensive team, averaged 12.1 points, 6.1 rebounds, 1.9 steals and 1.8 assists.

Alabama senior Keon Ellis and junior Jaden Shackelford are among the prospects that will participate in a private workout with the Atlanta Hawks on Wednesday, according to Chris Kirschner of The Athletic.

Ellis, who was named to the SEC All-Defensive team, averaged 12.1 points, 6.1 rebounds, 1.9 steals and 1.8 assists in 33 games. He led the Crimson Tide in rebounding, steals, free-throw percentage (88.1) and 3-point percentage (36.6) this season.

Shackelford placed on the All-SEC second team after posting 16.6 points, 5.4 rebounds and 1.5 assists in 33 games. He became the 53rd player in program history to reach 1,000 career points (1,475) and led the team in scoring.

[mm-video type=video id=01g1rsh8q8reqq37csbs playlist_id=01f09kz5ecxq9bp57b player_id=01f1jxkahtwnvzepyp image=https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/video/thumbnail/mmplus/01g1rsh8q8reqq37csbs/01g1rsh8q8reqq37csbs-f8420f45d958f2bff8eba88d87a5f7ed.jpg]

Atlanta enters the pre-draft process with the 16th and 44th picks, respectively. They also hosted workouts on Monday and appear to be ramping up their draft preparation with the combine set to take place May 16-22.

In addition to Ellis and Shackelford, the Hawks will also work out Virginia Tech forward Keve Aluma, Mississippi State forward Garrison Brooks, Oakland forward Jamal Cain and Auburn guard Allen Flanigan on Wednesday.

The NBA draft will take place on June 23.

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

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Chris Kirschner: Hawks draft workouts …

Chris Kirschner: Hawks draft workouts for tomorrow: Keve Aluma (Va. Tech) – F – 6-9, 235 Garrison Brooks (Miss St. ) – F – 6-9, 230 Jamal Cain (Oakland) – F – 6-7, 191 Keon Ellis (Alabama) – G – 6-6, 175 Allen Flanigan (Auburn) – G – 6-6, 215 Jaden Shackelford (Alabama) – G – 6-3, 200

Virginia Tech starting center Keve …

Virginia Tech starting center Keve Aluma said in a phone interview Monday that he recently entered the NBA draft but is maintaining his college eligibility, so he could return for a sixth year of college. “I’m still not really sure yet what I’m going to do,” Aluma said. Aluma will display his talents for NBA scouts in the Portsmouth Invitational Tournament this week.

Notre Dame one-and-done in ACC Tournament after loss to Virginia Tech

Not what the Irish had in mind.

Notre Dame hoped to get revenge for its loss to Virginia Tech earlier in the season. A double bye and the second seed in the ACC Tournament should have indicated that the Irish were ready for almost anything thrown their way. Instead, the Hokies doubled down on the fact that they own the Irish this season and won the quarterfinal meeting, 87-80. While the Irish are said not to be on the bubble for the NCAA Tournament, a win sure would have given them less reason to be nervous come Selection Sunday.

The Irish (22-10) never led in this game, nor did they ever tie it once the Hokies (21-12), a true bubble team, scored the first points of the contest en route to a great shooting night. They trailed by as much as 16 in the first half, making only nine field goals and having an assist-to-turnover ratio of four to 10. The second half went better on both ends, and they got the deficit down to four with 48 seconds left. However, the Hokies answered every Irish run, and the comeback effort was too little too late.

Keve Aluma led the Hokies with 20 points on 8-of-12 shooting from the field. Justyn Mutts had the best all-around game with 11 points, 10 rebounds, five assists and three steals. Storm Murphy shot 5 of 7 from the field on a 16-point night, and Nahiem Allleyne matched that shooting line while scoring 12. Sean Padulla added 13 off the bench.

Prentiss Hubb led all scorers with 23 points on 8-of-12 shooting and paced the Irish with five assists. Cormac Ryan made all eight of his free throws in a 20-point game, and Nate Laszewski had a double-double of 12 points and 10 rebounds. Dane Goodwin, making his first appearance off the bench this season, scored 11.

Contact/Follow us @IrishWireND on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Notre Dame news, notes, and opinions.

Follow Geoffrey on Twitter: @gfclark89

Aggregate NBA mock draft 2.0: Paolo Banchero, Chet Holmgren, Jabari Smith battle for No. 1

In order to help us get a better sense of where all of the projected top prospects in the class stand as of right now, we compiled mock drafts from ESPN, NBADraft.net, CBS Sports, The Athletic, Bleacher Report, Sports Illustrated, Yahoo, Basketball News and USA TODAY Sports Media Group’s For The Win.

Please note that these rankings reflect the composite score to get a feel for consensus, not our own opinion.

Since our last update, the players who have improved the most spots are Ismael Kamagate (Paris), Moussa Diabate (Michigan), Azuolas Tubelis (Arizona), Hugo Besson (New Zealand), Efe Abogidi (Washington State),  Iverson Molinar (Mississippi State), Justin Lewis (Marquette), Max Christie (Michigan State), EJ Liddell (Ohio State), and Ochai Agbaji (Kansas).

The most notable prospects making their debut on our rankings are Trevor Keels (Duke), Bryce McGowens (Nebraska), MarJon Beauchamp (G League Ignite), Keon Ellis (Alabama), Christian Koloko (Arizona), Wendell Moore (Duke), Blake Wesley (Notre Dame),  Josh Minott (Memphis), Zach Edey (Purdue), and Johnny Davis (Wisconsin).

Some of the top prospects who did not make the cut this time included Hunter Sallis (Gonzaga), Brandon Huntley-Hatfield (Tennesse), Kobe Bufkin (Michigan), Mouhamed Gueye (Washington State), Jahvon Quinerly (Albama), Adam Flagler (Baylor), Jaylin Williams (Auburn), Matthieu Gauzin (Le Mans), Isaiah Wong (Miami), Marcus Williams (Texas A&M), and Tyson Etienne (Wichita State).

Otherwise, you can learn the latest updates on every single prospect who has been included in recent mock drafts by scrolling below.

HoopsHype’s Alberto de Roa contributed research to this report

2022 aggregate NBA mock draft: Debut ranking of all notable prospects

The 2021 NBA draft class finished their first go-around in the summer league, which means evaluators are fully focused on next year’s class.

The 2021 NBA draft class finished their first go-around in the summer league, which means evaluators are fully focused on next year’s class.

In order to help us get a better sense of where all of the projected top prospects in the class stand as of right now, we compiled mock drafts from Bleacher Report, Yahoo, The Athletic, Yahoo, SB Nation, NBADraft.net, CBS Sports, and USA TODAY Sports Media Group’s For The Win.

Please note that these rankings reflect the composite score to get a feel for consensus, not our own opinion.

Collegiate teams who had more than two players appear on a mock were Auburn, Baylor, Duke, Kentucky, Michigan, Tennessee and UCLA. Three players will be on the G League’s Ignite roster and one is on Overtime’s Elite squad.

Additionally, seven players are rostered in Spain and four are playing in Australia’s NBL. There are also three players on Serbia’s KK Mega Basket included.

Freshmen one-and-done candidates who didn’t make the list but could climb on to join during the season: Harrison Ingram (Stanford), Trevor Keels (Duke), Bryce McGowens (Nebraska), Josh Minott (Memphis), Kowacie Reeves (Florida), Bryce Hopkins (Kentucky), Nathan Bittle (Oregon) and Jeremy Sochan (Baylor).

Some of the most notable collegiate returners who were snubbed from these rankings: Marcus Williams (Texas A&M), Jonathan Davis (Wisconsin), Kofi Cockburn (Illinois), Zach Edey (Purdue), Adam Miller (LSU), Colin Castleton (Florida) and Tyson Etienne (Wichita State).

Relevant international prospects to know who were not included below: Fedor Zugic, Lefteris Mantzoukas, Jayson Tchicamboud, Nikita Mikhailovskii, Yoan Makoundou, Tom Digbeu and Makur Maker.

Otherwise, you can learn the latest updates on every single prospect who has been included in recent mock drafts by scrolling below.

HoopsHype’s Alberto de Roa contributed research to this report

Main Image: Coley Cleary / USA TODAY Sports Media Group

Did he stay or did he go? Tracking the biggest NBA draft decisions

All prospects who declared early entry for the 2021 NBA draft without foregoing their collegiate eligibility had until July 7 to withdraw.

All prospects who declared early entry for the 2021 NBA draft without foregoing their collegiate eligibility had until July 7 to withdraw.

While the official date from the league is not actually until July 19, the NCAA has mandated the deadline of July 7 for players who wish to play college basketball next season.

Prospects who declared as early entry candidates but were just “testing the waters” often opt to return to the collegiate ranks so as to improve their draft stock for the subsequent year instead. But there are several reasons why a player might be even more willing to return to college for another campaign than usual.

For example, seniors have the option to use another year of eligibility because of the massive impact of COVID-19. Others may be interested in playing another year of college in front of fans after last season was met with many restrictions.

Meanwhile, all NCAA athletes also now have the ability to profit from their name, image and likeness (NIL) for the first time. This offers an avenue to collect some money while still in college without needing to fully commit to turning pro.

Here are the latest updates about who is still testing the waters, who will be turning pro and who will be returning to the NCAA.