Tag: yves pons

2021 NBA Draft Big Board 1.0: Who are the top players to know?

While the college basketball season has been strange, we have a more clear idea of which top prospects are expected in the 2021 NBA draft.

While the college basketball season has been strange, we have a more clear idea of which top prospects are expected in the 2021 NBA draft.

Unfortunately, putting together a big board at this point in the year is an incomplete task. The inaugural NBA G League Ignite team, a new developmental team that plays exhibitions and is meant to serve as an alternative to college for some players, has not yet begun their season.

That makes it impossible to track development for top prospects like Jonathan Kuminga and Jalen Green as well as potential risers like Isaiah Todd and Daishen Nix.

While there are some honorable mentions included for some fringe prospects, several names (e.g. Duke’s DJ Steward, UNC’s Caleb Love, Texas Tech’s Terrence Shannon, Miami’s Earl Timberlake) were omitted on account of projected returns to the NCAA. As of right now, however, it is still a great challenge to predict who will be in this class.

The key to this draft is fluidity and being willing to accept that things will change quickly. Players will have slumps and some may be slow to adapt to the new normal. Rankings now are hardly reflective of where they will be as we get closer to March Madness.

Note that any conversations with NBA scouts mentioned in the article were held under the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly on behalf of their teams.

All relevant statistics are from BartTorvik.com, KenPom.com, Sports-Reference, RealGM and Synergy Sports Tech. Data is accurate as of January 22, 2021.

2021 aggregate NBA mock draft 2.0: How has the NCAA season changed rankings?

Now that the 2021 NCAA Men’s Basketball season is underway, we are getting a more clear picture of the top prospects in the upcoming class.

Now that the 2021 NCAA Men’s Basketball season is underway, we are getting a more clear picture of the top prospects in the upcoming class.

Former top recruits like Cade Cunningham, Evan Mobley and Jalen Suggs have made a great first impression and have confirmed why many already feel they are going to be solid future professionals in the NBA.

Of course, considering the unusual nature of the college basketball season, some players are struggling a bit more than others. The performance on the court will likely stray closer to the mean with a larger sample size as the year continues.

But to get a better sense of where everyone stands right now, we compiled mock drafts from ESPN, NBADraft.net, CBS Sports, Bleacher Report, Sports Illustrated, Yahoo, The Athletic and USA TODAY Sports Media Group’s For The Win to see where the prospects rank at the moment.

We highlighted the prospects who have been the biggest risers since we published our last edition of this exercise.

College basketball standouts who have most drastically improved their draft stock through the early parts of the season include Keon Johnson (Tennessee), James Bouknight (UCONN), Jared Butler (Baylor), Corey Kispert (Gonzaga), Day’Ron Sharpe (UNC), Aaron Henry (Michigan State), Ayo Dosunmu (Illinois), Marcus Bagley (Arizona State), Moussa Cisse (Memphis), Charles Bassey (Western Kentucky), Jason Preston (Ohio) and Luka Garza (Iowa).

Below are the rankings based on the latest mock drafts from top analysts and experts:

HoopsHype’s Alberto de Roa contributed research to this report

2021 NBA Mock Draft: Predicting all 60 picks, starting with Cade Cunningham

Now that the 2020-21 NCAA Men’s Basketball season is in full swing, we examined what the 2021 NBA draft class is shaping up to look like.

Now that the 2020-21 NCAA Men’s Basketball season is in full swing, we examined what the 2021 NBA draft class is shaping up to look like.

Consider this an introduction to the top players in college, as well as those on the inaugural NBA G League Ignite team, a new developmental team that plays exhibitions and is meant to serve as an alternative to college for some players. We’ll also look at international prospects who are playing abroad.

Due to the ongoing pandemic, this is going to be an unusual season for all hopeful pros. The bizarre offseason made it hard to get in the swing of things and some may struggle early as they adjust accordingly. As they already have been, games will inevitably be postponed or outright canceled.

Even in a normal season, a mock draft this early is a bold move. With these circumstances in mind, our mock draft is obviously going to look very different from how the actual night will shake out next offseason.

But it does offer a general starting range to encapsulate where the top prospects may be selected if they draft were held now. It also gives some insight on the kinds of players who may be available when your favorite team is on the clock.

The draft order was determined by projected wins from ESPN’s Kevin Pelton, whose projected real plus-minus has “outperformed” the over-under figures from Las Vegas since 2015. Pick swaps and trades were pulled from the future draft picks section on RealGM.

Note that all conversations with NBA scouts mentioned in the article were held under the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly on behalf of their teams.

All relevant statistics are from BartTorvik.com, KenPom.com, Sports-Reference, RealGM and Synergy Sports Tech. Statistics for 2020-21 college basketball freshmen were calculated from their most recent AAU season via Open Look Analytics.

Two Vols named to Wooden Watch List

Yves Pons and John Fulkerson named to Wooden Watch List.

A pair of University of Tennessee basketball players were recently named to the John R. Wooden Award Presented by Wendy’s Watch List.

Post players Yves Pons and John Fulkerson were two of 50 players on the list.

Tennessee was one of 11 schools that had multiple players make the watch list, which is comprised by basketball experts.

The 50 players are early front runners for two of college basketball’s most prestigious honors; the Wooden Award All-American Team and the Most Outstanding Player Award.

Other teams to have multiple candidates on the initial list include Duke, Baylor, Gonzaga, Illinois, Iowa, Kentucky, LSU, Stanford, Villanova and Virginia.

Pons and Fulkerson were two of 20 seniors on the list, which also included 12 juniors, 11 sophomores and seven freshmen.

Players on the list are from 11 conferences. The Big Ten had 11 players make the list. The Southeastern Conference and Atlantic Coast Conference each had seven players on the list. The Pac-12 and Big 12 had six selections apiece.

The Big East had four players make the list. Other conferences represented included the Atlantic 10, West Coast Conference, the American Athletic Conference, Mountain West and Conference USA.

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Yves Pons, John Fulkerson receive All-SEC preseason honors

Tennessee’s post players named to coaches preseason All-SEC Team.

A pair of University of Tennessee basketball players were named to the Coaches’ Preseason All-Southeastern Conference Team.

Yves Pons and John Fulkerson received first-team honors.

The league unveiled its 17th edition of the All-SEC Preseason First and Second Teams Thursday.

Each team consists of a minimum of eight players, chosen by the conference’s 14 head coaches.

Feb 26, 2020; Fayetteville, Arkansas, USA; Arkansas Razorbacks guard Jimmy Whitt Jr. (33) passes the ball around Tennessee Volunteers guard Yves Pons (35) as forward John Fulkerson (10) looks on during the first half of the game at Bud Walton Arena. Arkansas beat Tennessee 86-69. Mandatory Credit: Brett Rojo-USA TODAY Sports

First-team members included Pons; Fulkerson; John Petty Jr. (Alabama); Keyontae Johnson (Florida); Brandon Boston (Kentucky); Javonte Smart (LSU); Trendon Watford (LSU) and AJ Watson (South Carolina).

The Second Team was comprised of: Herbert Jones (Alabama); Desi Sills (Arkansas); Scottie Lewis (Florida); Olivier Sarr (Kentucky); Devontae Shuler (Ole Miss)); Dru Smith (Missouri); Jermaine Couisnard (South Carolina; Savion Flagg (Texas A&M) and Scottie Pippen Jr. (Vanderbilt).

Yves Pons named candidate for Julius Erving Award

UT forward Yves Pons named a candidate for 2021 Julius Erving Award.

KNOXVILLE — University of Tennessee basketball player Yves Pons is a preseason candidate for college basketball’s Julius Erving Award.

A list of 20 candidates for the honor was released on Wednesday.

Fan voting for the award, which goes to the best small forward in college basketball and is named for Naismith Hall of Famer Julius “Dr. J.” Erving, begins tomorrow.

The list will be trimmed to 10 players in late January and is named for Erving, who scored and rebounded at a high rate, averaging 20 points and 20 rebounds per game.

Pons is the reigning Southeastern Conference Defensive Player of the Year. He established himself as both a dominant post presence both offensively and defensively.

Other candidates include: Derrick Alston Jr. (Boise State); Jalen Johnson (Duke); Wendell Moore (Duke); Keyontae Johnson (Florida); Corey Kispert (Gonzaga); Brandon Boston Jr. (Kentucky); D.J. Jeffries (Memphis); Aaron Wiggins (Maryland); Franz Wagner (Michigan); Aaron Henry (Michigan State); Ron Harper Jr. (Rutgers); Matt Mitchell (San Diego State); Ziaire Williams (Stanford); Terrence Shannon Jr. (Texas Tech); Chris Smith (UCLA); Timmy Allen (Utah); Jermaine Samuels (Villanova) and Sam Hauser (Virginia).

Former UT standout and current Washington Wizards player Admiral Schofield was a finalist for the award in 2019.

Yves Pons discusses returning to Tennessee

Yves Pons discusses returning to Tennessee.

KNOXVILLE — Tennessee forward Yves Pons enters his senior season for the Vols in the upcoming 2020-21 campaign.

Pons met with media on a Zoom call Wednesday to discuss his process of returning to Tennessee and not going to the NBA early.

Below is a transcript of Pons’ press conference provided by the University of Tennessee.

On NBA interviews
“Instead of the workouts we did interviews with the NBA guys. I got to have 15 interviews and they mainly asked me about my life and my background. We talked a bit about basketball, but that was pretty much it. I’m just waiting on some feed-back from the NBA guys.”

On waiting until the deadline to decide about the draft
“Yes, on the morning of the deadline I did not know what I was going to do because we were still getting some feedback from my agent and the NBA. It was hard to make a decision ahead of that so that’s why we waited until the deadline and that’s when I made the decision.”

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Yves Pons to return to Tennessee

Yves Pons to return to Tennessee.

KNOXVILLE — After the 2019-20 college basketball season was cut short by the coronavirus pandemic, University of Tennessee basketball player Yves Pons decided to test the waters in declaring early for the NBA draft.

After testing the waters, Pons has now decided to return to Rocky Top and continue his collegiate career with the Volunteers. The upcoming campaign will conclude his amateur career.

Pons, who hails from France, was a defensive force for the Big Orange and was named Southeastern Conference Defensive Player of the Year after averaging a league-leading 2.1 blocked shots per game.

He was the first Vol ever to achieve that honor and was the third UT player ever to be named to the SEC’s All-Defensive Team.

Pons, who plays both small forward and shooting guard for the Vols, appeared in all 31 of Tennessee’s games last season and had a blocked shot in each contest. He also averaged 10.8 points, 5.4 rebounds and 1.1 assists per game last season.

The Vols were 17-14 when the season prematurely ended.

Yves Pons declares for NBA Draft

Yves Pons declares for NBA Draft.

KNOXVILLE — University of Tennessee basketball player Yves Pons will enter the 2020 NBA Draft.

Pons could return to Knoxville after going through the pre-draft process, which includes the scouting combine.

He has the option to withdraw his name and return to the Volunteers after receiving feedback from NBA scouts.

Pons, was named the Southeastern Conference’s Defensive Player of the Year last season. He had 73 blocked shots for the Volunteers during the 2019-20 campaign.

He started all 31 games for the Big Orange last season, averaging 10.8 points and 5.4 rebounds.

Pons can return to school if he hires an NCAA-certified agent or does not hire an agent at all.