https://twitter.com/AlumaKeve/status/1379966981034680321?s=20
Keve Aluma's Tweet:
"I feel blessed to have the opportunity to explore my options and enter my name for the 2021 NBA draft while still maintaining my eligibility as a Hokie. 🙏🏾 Can't wait to see what God has in store for me and go Hokies 🦃"
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Comments
Sounds like a smart thing to do for every player that might have a chance to go to NBA. You never know what feedback ya might get back, and no harm if there isn't any interest at this time.
He ain't ready I'll just say it. Played so well most of the season but needed more toughness down the stretch. I think he can get drafted in 2022
I envision him as a good player in Europe like Blackshear
Very true. But this is a quick and free way for him to interview with the big leagues to get free feedback. When I say he's a good learner and he'll put the feedback to use, trust me. Watched him all thru high school and he is light years plus some beyond the wildest thoughts of where he'd be. He's motivated and tough, a good combo to be hungry to go get it next year.
Totally agree, but I'm excited to see how Aluma would fair at the 4. He has the skill set and build to be a stretch 4, and I think demonstrating success in such a role would be the best way to gain some traction in the NBA. I like that he is testing the waters, though. I have to assume players get solid feedback and are more prepared for the next go-round after getting a sense for what the process entails.
the bball rules are so much better than football around the draft/eligibility rules
I love the fact that he can test the waters while remaining eligible.
And why wouldn't he? The day I could get paid to play basketball is the day I would make the jump. I imagine he will test waters this year, get his grade and decide on staying with the hokies.
It's not so much getting a grade as being drafted or not. I don't think it's like football where you get a pre-draft feedback from the NFL and then decide to enter the draft or not.
Getting feedback from The League while still being able to come back to college is fantastic. If I were a coach, I would recommend all my players from elite to walk on to get graded every year.
Definitely the one thing that the NBA has better on the NFL is the ability to do this
I've always wondered why basketball players can do this, but football players can't. Is it an NBA rule or NCAA rule?
It would suck to lose him, but if he gets 1st round feedback and a 1st round grade, he absolutely should go and achieve the dream.
Plus, on the recruiting trail, it wouldn't be the worst thing to be a program that has put 2 underagers in the 1st round within 3 years across 2 coaching regimes. Just sayin....
Not to mention being able to say "look, we took a kid who didn't start playing ball til High School, who no colleges wanted, and turned him into an All ACC player, who is now looking to get drafted"
Absolutely true but that isn't even close to a possibility is it? Or am I just that off base for what NBA is looking for?
I would be shocked if he got drafted
In the modern NBA, he's too "old" to get a first round grade. Most of the first round is AAU kids that looked great as HS juniors against zero defense. One and dones and euro's now make up most of the first round. The NBA draft has turned into AA baseball.
It's wild. Cam Johnson was clowned universally as a lotto pick because he was 23, but he came into the league and has canned almost 40% of his threes and played a huge role on the team in 2nd place in the western conference right away. The reason the Spurs kept winning was because useful players kept sliding to them in the first round because they weren't 18.
Justyn Mutts needs to do the same thing. Radford could too but since you can only do it one of wait for next year if I was him.
No hate on these guys but I don't think either of those players have NBA potential immediately.
Doesn't matter, the NBA review will tell them where their game needs to improve from a purely objective standpoint. I think every player should do it at some point in their career. This is Mutts' last chance. Radford would probably just be told to improve his 3point shooting which he already knows, so I think he should wait til next year after his shot improves.
I still selfishly think Keve has some things to round out in his game and would love to see him back next year, but nice to see he's getting some attention with the invite
Let him go to every camp, get exposure and experience and come back, win a Natty, confirm basketball school status and get drafted in the lottery next year. It's simple really.
I'm on this site daily but somehow I missed this completely. Amy insider info on what his chances are of coming back are?
You never know what a young person wants to do or who is in their ear, but I'm not seeing his name pop up on mock drafts, and certainly not in the first round. I hope he comes back for our sake, but for his as well.
alternatively, another year likely isn't going to make him a first round pick because another year isn't going to drastically change his athleticism. his pro shot seems to likely be as stretch 4 so he needs to work on his jump shot, which he can do anywhere.
if he has his degree, making 35k/year to work on his game isn't a far fetched idea. the coaches need to convince him that he's more likely to improve his game to a pro-level at VT
Very good take! I would hope the playing time argument and familiarity with the system could sway him. Would hate to see him go to the G league or overseas and do anything other than dominate. Basically, I love this young man and want him back (do I stink of desperation?)
Soft disagree on this, and specifically it's because I think Aluma is still on an improvement curve. He started balling rather late, and even CMY said he was shocked at how much better Aluma was offensively this past season as compared to what CMY saw at Wofford. So if a guy was pretty much leveled off I would agree that maybe he should start earning G-money if he could, but in Aluma's case I think another year in the ACC will help him to further polish his game and build consistency, something that could definitely stand improvement going by this last year.