San Francisco Chronicle - (Sunday)
Florida St.’ s Vassell could be right man for job with Warriors
Florida State assistant coach Charlton Young needed less than 10 minutes to recognize that the littleknown recruit with the impressive wingspan was an ideal fit for the Seminoles’ system.
Within the first few possessions of a spring 2017 scrimmage in Suwanee, Ga., Devin Vassell — a high school junior whose only Division I offers were from North Florida and Presbyterian — blocked a shot, deflected a pass, grabbed a rebound and
hit a 3pointer. Almost immediately, Young called Vassell over, offered him a scholarship and told him he could make the NBA.
“Really?” Vassell asked, his voice trembling.
Three and a half years later, Vassell is projected to go in the lottery of November’s NBA
draft. Some prognosticators believe he could be selected as early as No. 2 to the Warriors, who are in need of a long, versatile defender in Vassell’s mold to help replace Andre Iguodala.
At 6foot7 and 195 pounds with a 7foot wingspan and quick feet, Vassell excels at getting into passing lanes and forcing turnovers. NBA executives believe Vassell can guard at least four positions at a high level. During his two seasons at Florida State, Vassell also showed enough for scouts to think he can become an elite helpside defender. What makes him such an intriguing prospect, however, is that he pairs all that with a textbook jump shot. Facing a barrage of doubleteams as the Seminoles’ goto option last season, Vassell shot 41.5% from 3point range. His twoway prowess has Florida State head coach Leonard Hamilton drawing parallels between Vassell and Warriors guard Klay Thompson.
“I always tell people that he’s very similar to Thompson,” said Hamilton, whose Seminoles went a combined 5513 during Vassell’s time in Tallahassee. “If you look at his shooting stats at Washington State, they’re similar to Devin’s. He’s long, lean, athletic.”
Such praise would have been difficult to fathom four years ago when Vassell was a railthin 16yearold struggling to land on a highmajor program’s radar. Rated a twostar prospect on multiple recruiting sites, he stood 63, weighed 160 pounds and had a shaky jump shot.
Florida State prides itself on overlooking the recruiting ratings to identify players who’d thrive in its readandreact system, and Young — a former head coach at Georgia Southern — heard from multiple coaches in the Atlanta area that Vassell was worth a look. In Vassell, Young saw someone who could play hard on defense, curl off screens, attack closeouts and, with some work, develop into a solid spotup shooter. When Young returned from Suwanee, he told Hamilton that the Seminoles were the first bigconference program to offer Vassell. Never mind that Florida State had only one spot available in its 2018 recruiting class.
Two weeks later, after Vassell received offers from Miami and Texas Tech, he committed to the Seminoles knowing that he might need to redshirt his first year. Florida State was set to bring back the majority of its roster from a team that would reach the Elite Eight.
By the time Vassell arrived on campus in summer 2018, he had grown 3 inches and added nearly 30 pounds of muscle. Early practices were spent adjusting the release on his jump shot and improving his footwork. Impressed with Vassell’s strides, Hamilton began devising ways to get the freshman into the rotation.
The highlight was Vassell’s 14point, 16minute gem in an ACC tournament quarterfinal win over Virginia Tech that included a 3pointer that sent the game to overtime. As a sophomore last season, he settled in as the unquestioned leader of a team that was ranked fourth nationally before the NCAA Tournament was canceled in midMarch because of the coronavirus.
Scouts began to view Vassell as the prototypical “3andD” wing in the NBA. As soon as Hamilton learned that Vassell was a likely lottery pick, he encouraged Vassell to forgo his final two years of eligibility and declare for the draft.
“Vassell is one of those guys who’s going to be an even better pro than he was a college player,” said a Western Conference scout, who spoke under the condition of anonymity because he wasn’t authorized to talk about the draft publicly. “Florida State has an effective system where everyone shares the ball, but I don’t think he got to fully show what he’s capable of.
“He’s more skilled than a lot of people might realize.”
Few doubt that Vassell, who turned 20 in late August, can contribute to an NBA team. The question is whether he has the playmaking ability to become more than a solid starter.
According to multiple league sources, the Warriors believe Vassell is the top wing defender in this draft and strongly would consider him if they trade back to the 510 range. There is an outside chance that Golden State could take him even at No. 2 if it doesn’t receive an enticing offer to move down.
This is no big surprise to Hamilton’s staff. When Young first told Vassell threeplus years ago that the lightly touted teen had a chance to make the NBA, he wasn’t merely making a recruiting pitch. “We always knew he had the physical tools to be great, but I think the strongest thing he has is his mind and his spirit,” Hamilton said. “There’s no doubt in my mind that he’s going to get better and better as he matures. It’s cliche, but the sky’s really the limit for him.”