Purdue center Zack Eddy will return to school next season announced WedWhile Connecticut guard Andre Jackson Jr. plans to stay in the 2023 NBA draft, he told ESPN. Here’s what you need to know:
- Eddie announced last month that he would Intake water test while maintaining eligibility. the athleteSam Vecenie of the team rated Edey as the 59th possible available in his latest Big Board issue.
- The 2023 Naismith College Men’s Player of the Year averaged 22.3 points, 12.9 rebounds and 2.1 blocks per game his junior season while shooting 60.7 percent from the field in 2022-23.
- Similarly, Jackson announced in April that he would enter the draft while maintaining his college eligibility. He is the 34th overall finisher in the Vecenie senior plate, and is projected to be selected by the Pistons at #31 in Vecenie’s latest mock draft.
- Jackson averaged 6.7 points, 4.7 assists and 6.2 rebounds per game last season, his third with UConn. He had a dominant NCAA tournament and helped lead the Huskies to their first national championship since 2014.
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the athleteInstant Analysis:
How close is Eddie to staying in the draft?
Legally speaking, I think people don’t realize how close this is to going the other way. Eddie has had a lot of interest from NBA teams in the late first round and early second round pool. If he had stayed, I’m confident he would have been a top 40 pick and would have been on an absolutely guaranteed roster next season. Why? He measured at the elite level of the group, coming in at over 7-foot-3 without shoes with a 7-foot-10 wingspan and 9-foot-7.5 standing which would all be near the top of the NBA center range.
But then Eddie was the best player nationally this season and appeared in each team’s analytics form at an exceptionally high level. He’s also a kid with an elite personality who works incredibly hard and has a very competitive mindset. He got late into basketball in his teenage years after growing up playing hockey and baseball in Canada, and has shown an explosive growth trajectory over the past five years. They may not quite fit the mold of the archetype NBA teams are looking for, but they still have a lot going for them. – Everything
What does this mean for Bordeaux?
Eddy’s return to the Boilermakers cannot be measured. Lose it, and the team would have been a Top 25 team entering the year. But now that they’ve kept him, Purdue will enter the season ranked world-ranked in the top five and will be a Big Ten favorite even ahead of Michigan State. He’ll be surrounded by a loaded running back group that includes rookie sophomore guards Braden Smith and Fletcher Lauer and great frontcourt chops in Caleb Furst, Trey Kaufman-Renn and Mason Gillis. They also bring in top 100 recruit Miles Colvin, a winger who will likely fill their need as a good defender who can take on tough wing duties and is transferable across the backcourt if he’s ready to play from the jump.
The 2023-24 Purdue team will have every chance of being the first Matt Painter to reach the Final Four, and following in the footsteps of the last team to lose to the No. 16 seed as the No. 1 seed, the 2018 Virginia Cavaliers who lost to UMBC and then followed in 2019 by winning the national title with several of the same lots that were lost in the previous year. – Everything
Where can Jackson expect to be selected in the draft?
Jackson is one of my favorite players in the class – one of the best athletes in the 2023 draft who also doubles as one of the smartest players in the class. He is a great game wizard and is the epitome of a winning player. He defends aggressively, makes top-level pass readings, and drives transitional play. Ultimately, though, NBA teams are a bit worried about how he will fit in to the next level because of his shooting.
Jackson is considered a completely non-working player as a jump shooter right now, which will limit his scope a bit for NBA teams. Some bands are very high on it, others are very low because of it. He’s a player who will need to find the right blueprint in order to find success in the NBA, and some coaches won’t be willing to put up with his shortcomings. But those who do will have to be rewarded with a player who only helps them win.
Its range is a bit polarized at the moment. Jackson will likely be taken somewhere in the No. 25 to No. 45 range on draft night. – Everything
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What does this mean for Connecticut?
The Huskies will lose both of their captains this season, with Jackson and Adama Sanogo both going into the draft. Jordan Hawkins has also entered the draft this season and is seen as a very likely first-round pick. Don’t worry, Huskies fans. Connecticut running back Donovan Clingan will be a popular preseason All-American selection after his defensive-minute dominance this season. Starting at centre-forward, Alex Karaban will also return as a superb defender and intelligent defender.
In addition, Tristen Newton announced earlier Wednesday that he will return to Storrs, joining a top-five recruiting class nationally that includes five-star ballplayer Stefon Castle, four-star combo guard Solomon Ball, and a pair of standouts. Four-star wingers in Jaylin Stewart and Jayden Ross that fit perfectly into the scheme of the Huskies as the groundbreakers. Connecticut also isn’t quite done in the gate, as both Huskies co-hire transfer Cam Spencer, one of the best players left in the market.
Connecticut should be ranked in the top five next season. – Everything
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