ACC Players Remain Undecided On Future Plans

Alex Len, Maryland

Jeff Goodman, CBS – 8th
DraftExpress.com – 11th
HoopsHype – 6th

The Maryland center represents the the conference’s highest-ranked pro prospect on most draft boards, regardless of class.  The 7’1” Ukrainian averaged 11.9 points and 7.8 rebounds per game for the Terrapins during his sophomore season.  There’s a lot to love about Len’s game. He has good athleticism and shooting range for a seven-footer, although his inconsistency could be frustrating at times.  This was embodied in Maryland’s NIT run, when Len recorded 13 points and six rebounds combined during the first two rounds, then was a rebound away from a double-double in the NIT semifinals after posting 15 points and 13 rebounds against Alabama.  He’s a pretty good defender, too, which is often assumed or taken for granted with big men but shouldn’t be ignored.

Could Improve: Back-to-the-basket offensive game. At times, Len struggled posting up consistently, even against much smaller opponents.  This is reflected in advanced stat numbers, which you can see thanks to this handy offering from Alex Prewitt of the Washington Post.  In short, Len loves to post up, yet he is far more efficient on cuts and pick-and-roll plays.  Landing on a team that relies more on the latter would benefit Len’s career, but improving on the block couldn’t hurt.

So Is He Gone?: All signs point to yes. As high as his stock is, it’s hard to imagine Len not leaving for the NBA.  Len has been pretty coy in answering questions regarding his future, as is typical in these situations.

James Michael McAdoo, North Carolina

Jeff Goodman, CBS – 24th
DraftExpress.com – 19th
HoopsHype – 21st

Last year, McAdoo considered going pro after a strong postseason for the Tar Heels, but elected to return for his sophomore season.  While McAdoo had plenty of good games in 2013, he had very few great games. Those great games usually came against Wake Forest, Georgia Tech, or Boston College.  Against Miami, Duke, and Virginia, McAdoo averaged 10.0 points and 6.0 rebounds and made 37.3 percent of his field goal attempts, and his worst performance of the season in terms of field-goal percentage was UNC’s NCAA Tournament loss to Kansas, when McAdoo was 5-for-19.  It’s hard to complain about 14.4 points and 7.3 rebounds per game, but McAdoo entered the season as a potential top-five draft pick expected to lead the Tar Heels.  Results aside, McAdoo is an impressive athlete and has a knack for playing the passing lanes and coming away with steals for easy transition baskets.

Could Improve: Shot selection.  The tools are all there for McAdoo, in terms of athleticism.  The problem has been taking good shots.  McAdoo all too often negates his size advantage by taking fadeaway or turnaround shots rather than attacking the basket.  Part of this will be aided if he goes to the NBA by not being the “go-to” guy.  Sometimes, especially before North Carolina’s transition to a smaller lineup, there was pressure on McAdoo to create shots when he is better suited working off the ball to find chances at or above the rim.

So Is He Gone?: His decision, along with North Carolina’s Reggie Bullock (30th in DraftExpress.com rankings) and PJ Hairston (Not in the top 30 of most rankings, but UNC’s leading scorer in 2012-13 despite starting the year on the bench) will likely come at the same time.  With every passing day, the wave of public opinion that the three players are staying grows stronger.  CBS’s Jeff Goodman reported last week that Hairston would stay at UNC, but Hairston’s mother refuted the report, claiming a decision had not yet been reached.

Other names tossed around: Duke’s Rasheed Sulaimon is Jeff Goodman’s 21st-ranked NBA prospect.  There hasn’t been much discussion of his pro prospects, so no news may be good news for the Blue Devils.

Miami’s Shane Larkin sent out this note on Instagram following the Hurricanes’ loss to Marquette, leading some to wonder if he would be NBA-bound. Before the ACC Tournament, the Sun Sentinel’s Michael Casagrande had reported Larkin would stay in Coral Gables for another season after an interview with the sophomore guard.  It would certainly appear that Larkin has at least opened the possibility of leaving since that interview, but the Larkin camp is in the “examining options” phase by all accounts (Did you know his dad was a famous baseball player named Barry?). Larkin is ranked 27th by DraftExpress.com.

Worth noting for McAdoo, along with Bullock and Hairston: During a radio interview last week, Roy Williams said, “I think we’re much, much closer to having all of them back than we were last year [with the pro prospects of Harrison Barnes, John Henson, and Kendall Marshall], for sure, going through that process and knowing what was going on. I think that they’re all enjoying school, they all are still hungry to do more and there’s nobody that’s a guaranteed top-five, top-10 pick.”

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