Courting the future
Oni, Waters, Adams hope to hear their names called
Miye Oni is hoping to become the first Ivy League player selected in the NBA draft in 24 years and the first Yale player picked since 1987.
Tremont Waters is looking to be the first New Haven-born player drafted in 26 years.
Jalen Adams is hoping to become the first UConn player drafted in three years — an eternity in recent UConn history.
All could happen on Thursday night. Or none. Most likely, at least one or two of those players will hear their names called out at some point in the 2019 NBA Draft.
Here’s a look at the three players with local ties who hope to get drafted on Thursday:
MIYE ONI
Oni, who just completed his junior year at Yale, seems to be the most likely of the three to be selected. The 6-foot-6 guard and reigning Ivy League Player of the Year is considered to be a mid-tolate second round pick by most draft observers.
“I would be shocked,” Yale coach James Jones said, “if he does not get drafted.”
Oni certainly has put in the work during the draft process. He had a strong performance at the NBA Draft Combine in Chicago last month, and has worked out for 15 different NBA teams. His final workout was on Monday for the Sacramento Kings.
“It’s been great, a lot of traveling,” said Oni, who’ll return to his Northridge, Calif. home to await his NBA draft fate. “It’s been busy, but definitely worthwhile.”
Oni added that it’s hard to gauge which teams might have the most interest in him. But according to Jones, Dallas and Milwaukee seem to have been most impressed so far.
“Miye’s a wild card because, for lack of a better term, he’s been underestimated his entire basketball career,” Jones said. “He’s got something to prove, and he’ll
continue to do that. Much like Jeremy Lin. When he came out of college, he wasn’t the best NBA prospect or the best player in the (Ivy) league at that time. But he really worked hard and got the opportunity to perform. If he wasn’t injured, I wonder what his career would be like.”
If Oni is selected on Thursday night, he’ll be the first Ivy League player drafted since 1995, when Penn’s Jerome Allen was taken in the second round (49th overall) by Minnesota. Oni would be the first Yale player drafted since Chris Dudley was picked by Cleveland in the fourth round of the 1987 draft, and the highest Yalie selected since 1949, when Tony Lavelli was a first-round (4th overall) pick by the Celtics.
“It would be a great honor,” Oni said. “It would be really good for the league to have someone drafted, good for our notoriety. It would show we have a great league and we can play on the highest level.”
Added Jones: “It would certainly be great for our program, Miye and his family. You do these things to try to help kids follow and chase their dreams. He’s certainly going to get drafted on Thursday. It’s an amazing opportunity for him.”
Oni might not be the only player with Yale ties drafted this year. Former Bulldog star Makai Mason, who played this past season at Baylor as a grad transfer, has appeared on some mock draft sites as a late second round selection. It’s more likely he goes undrafted, however.
Recent Yale grads Alex Copeland (Phoenix, Clippers) and Trey Phills (Char
lotte) also have had predraft workouts.
TREMONT WATERS
The New Haven native and Notre Dame-West Haven graduate just completed a sensational sophomore season at LSU, which included a trip to the Sweet 16 that begun with a firstround win over Oni and Yale.
Waters led the Tigers in scoring at 15.3 points per game and was the SEC’s Defensive Player of the Year. He seemed to raise his stock in the NCAA tournament, as well, hitting a last-second shot to beat Maryland in the Roundof-32.
However, Waters only shows up sporadically on mock draft boards. Some have him as a mid-to-late second-rounder, others not at all. His size (5-foot-11) is no doubt his chief obstacle, but the NBA has had numerous undersized point guards excel over the years.
“Look at (Fred) VanVleet,” noted Jones, who recruited Waters to come to Yale and is very familiar with the player and his family. “He didn’t get drafted, and all of a sudden he’s an NBA champion on his dime. He’s not Kawhi Leonard, but without him, (Toronto’s) not winning. I can see a guy like Tremont filling that void.”
One NBA Western Conference scout has also been impressed with Waters.
“I like him. He played well when I saw him. He made a big improvement in the last year, playing his position. He shot the ball and gets where he needs to go.”
It probably hasn’t helped Waters’ stock that he suffered a sprained right ankle during the NBA combine in mid-May and hasn’t been able to work out for teams since. He worked out for the Celtics and Milwaukee prior to the injury and has
visited numerous teams, including Indiana, San Antonio, Chicago, Charlotte and Washington, since, though only for interviews.
Waters would be the first New Haven-born player selected in the NBA draft since Scott Burrell, who was taken in the first round in 1993 by Chicago. Of course, Burrell grew up in and is more associated with Hamden. To find a more truly New Haven player drafted, you’d have to go back to 1986, when former Wilbur Cross and UConn star Earl Kelly was picked in the fifth round by the Spurs.
JALEN ADAMS
Like Oni and Waters, it’s been a grueling draft process for the recent UConn grad. Adams has worked out for Phoenix (twice), New Orleans, Toronto, Detroit, Sacramento, Orlando, Oklahoma City, the Celtics and, on Monday, the Lakers.
There hasn’t been much traction on Adams for this year’s draft, however, and it would still appear to be a longshot that Adams becomes the first UConn player drafted since Daniel Hamilton in 2016.
“He’s not a point guard,” said the Western Conference scout. “That kind of hurts him.”
Still, Adams’ athleticism and scoring ability will likely earn him a chance to sign as an undrafted free agent and earn his spot through the G-League. He could also flourish overseas.
“He’s a guy that we’d say he’s got to get on the hopper,” an NBA Eastern Conference scout told Hearst Connecticut Media in April, “and fight his way up through the minor leagues.”