College Hoops Video

So, earlier today I updated my final 2009 NBA Mock Draft. Then, I realized that a number of the readers of the site rely on the RSS feed that is limited to the last 10 articles on CHV. As a result, this is a short synopsis of the CHV 2009 NBA Mock Draft with a link to the full two round 2009 NBA Mock Draft!

We’ve seen who’s going and staying in the draft now. The biggest surprise is the lack of “awe” for Ricky Rubio’s only workout conducted before the draft with the Sacramento Kings.  I dropped him all the way down to nr 5 since the Kings don’t seem to thrilled with him, but I wouldn’t be surprised if we see him go even lower! Jodie Meeks chose to remain in the draft along with Memphis’s Shawn Taggart and we have seen a fair bit of movement of players based onhow their pre-draft workouts have gone. Tyler Hansbrough and B.J. Mullens have helped their cases since the 2008-09 NCAA regular season wrapped up and Terrence Williams may have worked his way into a 2009 NBA lottery pick! Particularly interesting is that Minnesota has traded to get the nr 5 and 6 picks with many thinking they’ll take the best Point Guard on the board with the pick and a good shooting or slashing guard with the second. Don’t be surprised to see them take DeRozan and Evans here vice mucking with Rubio if he’s still around.

Top 5 2009 NBA Draft Picks:

View the Complete College Hoops Video 2009 NBA Mock Draft!

What an interesting road this young man has traveled to get to the point of having the possibility of being selected in the first round of the upcoming 2009 NBA Draft. A highly touted high school senior, Jennings was listed as the #1 recruit in 2007-2008 by both Scouts.com and ESPN.com. What happened? Well, that my friends is the unique story of Brandon Jennings.

Brandon Jennings’ Collegiate Career

To sum it up in one sentence, Brandon Jennings didn’t have a collegiate career. And this is where the story gets a bit more interesting. As a high school senior playing for Oak Hill Academy in Virginia, Jennings finished the season with nothing short of outstanding statistics and ended up as the 2008 Naismith High School Basketball Player Of The Year. A quick run down of what he accomplished. He scored over 32 points per game, dished out over 7 assists per game, averaged more than 5 rebounds a game and to top it off almost 4 steals per game. This had many colleges beating a path to the young mans door and rightly so. He initially committed to USC during his junior season but changed his mind in 2007 and expressed that he would instead join the Arizona Wildcats. Moving forward to June 2008, Jennings had difficulty passing the entrance exam. To be kind, he tanked it, even after trying it multiple times. Since he was not yet 19 years old, Jennings couldn’t make himself eligible for the 2008 NBA Draft. At this point, he declared that he would be the first American player to forgo college and play in Europe. In July of 2008, Jennings signed a $1.65 million dollar contract to play for Lottomatica Roma of The Italian A League. Needless to say, certainly not chump change. Added to that was a contract from Under Armour for $2 million to showcase the company’s products in the Euroleague. Not a bad deal right? But Jennings still wants to play in the NBA and this is the year where most feel he will get his wish.

Brandon Jennings 2009 NBA Draft Prospects

With almost a season of polish and yes, some frustration under his belt, Brandon Jennings will most like be a first round selection in the upcoming 2009 NBA Draft. His upside potential to many is off the scale. Showing that he could play point guard in a fairly tough Euroleague has Jennings slated to be a low first round pick. To many, Jennings might be that so called sleeper pick that will have everybody saying “Who?” when the day is over. At 6ft 1in. tall, Jennings has what many feel is world class speed. And in this day and age when the speed is at a premium in the NBA, Jennings has it bucketloads. His athleticism, quickness, and knowledge of the game will pose many problems for his future opponents. Jennings is a true point guard that has outstanding ball handling skills and passing abilities. Is he a finished product? No, not yet, but look for this young man to make a mark in the NBA and do it rather quickly. 

Refs:

http://www.draftexpress.com/profile/Brandon-Jennings-1114/

http://basketballrecruiting.rivals.com/viewprospect.asp?Sport=2&pr_key=39071

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/24/sports/basketball/24recruit.html

There were high expectations when James Harden, a 6ft. 5in. shooting guard from Los Angeles, California, finally chose the Arizona State Sun Devils as his college of choice. And, quite honestly, there should have been.  He led his high school team to a 33-1 record and was voted to the prestigious McDonalds All-American team. Needless to say, the young man didn’t disappoint. From the opening game to the last of his debut season, Harden responded as many though he would. He scored, rebounded and played a vital role in leading the Sun Devils to a 20 win season. With his size, work ethic and sound fundamentals, Harden will no doubt be a player that has the possibility of being a lottery pick in the upcoming NBA Draft. 

James Harden’s Collegiate Career

To put it bluntly, Harden will be leaving Arizona State as the most decorated player in Sun Devil history. After leading the Sun Devils to a 13 win turnaround, highest in the nation in his first season, he was voted  Pac 10 freshman of the year. But to most observers, they knew even better things were just on the horizon. In his second season he was 25^th in the nation in scoring with a 20.1ppg. and he accomplished this with a little over 12 shots a game. But what was even more impressive was his overall game. He rebounded, averaging just over 5 a game, he made assists, just over 4 a game and he was sound defensively averaging almost 2 steals a game. He was again voted to first team All PCA -10 and helped lead the Sun Devils to their first post season NCAA tournament berth in 6 years.  Due to his outstanding year in 2008-2009, Harden became the first Sun Devil in team history to earn first team All-American honors along with being voted PAC 10 player of the year. There was little doubt that after such a stellar career, that James Harden would chose to take his game to next level.    

James Harden’s 2009 NBA Draft Prospects

As the rumor mill cranks up, especially after the 2009 NBA draft combine in Chicago, Harden has the potential to be selected as high as # 3 and as low as position 5. Which by the way, is good news for the Washington Wizards as they sorely need the additional scoring punch. But again, speculation does not always equal reality. What does seem to be odd, and to some just a bit arrogant, is that Harden, at least until now has stated that he will not conduct any interviews with teams that are not in the top 5 drafting positions. What has so far impressed NBA scouts the most is Hardens all around basketball skills and athleticism. Although he is still only 19, he already possesses NBA quickness to become an excellent defender and has the ball handling ability and court awareness to hit the open man. Even though he played both small forward and shooting guard in college, his best position according to most NBA experts will be that of shooting guard. 

Refs:

http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article_external/646535

http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball/news?slug=txjameshardenbio&prov=st&type=lgns&print=1

http://thesundevils.cstv.com/sports/m-baskbl/mtt/harden_james00.html