Wednesday, July 25, 2012

Any WAC NBA prospects for next season?

So who in the 2012-13 WAC will be selected in the NBA draft following the season?

Realistically, nobody.

And that seemingly speaks volumes about the quality of the recruits and teams currently residing in the conference but in reality it's just a continuation of the same as only former WAC players Luke Babbitt, Armon Johnson and Greg Smith saw NBA action this past season, the latter two basically just cups of coffee.

The truth is the league simply doesn't land prospects with high level talent or potential.

As for current WAC talents:

Kyle Barone is the only returning senior who earned WAC Player of the Week honors last season but he won't have an NBA opportunity, overseas yes, until more muscle and strength are indicated.

Sophomore Raheem Appleby and junior Preston Medlin both nabbed the POW honors once.

Appleby is listed at 6-foot-2 and that size vis-a-vis playing the two in the NBA is a difficult scenario to forsee.

At 6-foot-4, Medlin has decent size for a pro shooting guard, nice size for a point but he'll likely be looked at in the pros as the former.

Plus, 6-foot-6 Denver junior Chris Udofia is making enough noise with his overall production to warrant early looks.

Deonte Burton would qualify as an NBA-headed talent had Nevada remained in the WAC. The same for Fresno State's Robert Upshaw and Braden Anderson, at least in potential, since neither has played a game in college.

Now the Mountain West Conference, well, that a whole 'nother story as Coach Dave Rice at UNLV has a handful of NBA prospects just with his Rebels.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

McGee, Sessions, McGuire, Milsap,George, and Carter were also former members of the WAC who played in the NBA this past year. If you look at players who played in the WAC the last 10 years and made it to the NBA the list is even longer.

I would add NMSU's Mullings to the list of possibles. His size would fit him better for PG in the NBA but he has the athletic ability.