Six Big East players head to the NBA Combine and the G-League Elite Camp

It’s almost June which means it’s time to dive headfirst into NBA draft season. With the draft lottery being tomorrow and with combines coming shortly after, there will be a lot of college prospects hoping their name will be called next month on June 20th.

There are a handful, if not more, of Big East players will be among the pool of prospects. In fact, six players from the conference were invited to the two main events which are taking place in Chicago aside from the draft lottery. The first one is the G League Elite Camp which takes place from May 12th to 14th. There will be four Big East guys in the Elite Camp. Guards Phil Booth and Myles Powell will be there along with forwards Max Strus and Trey Mourning. This is an interesting crop of players as you have two scoring machines in Strus and Powell along with two seniors such as Booth and Mourning. All four certainly have the talent to make the NBA if not earn a roster spot on a G-League team. There is a twist here as there just won’t be college hopefuls at this camp. 40 of the G-League’s best prospects will also be at the camp and on display. One of the names is former Seton Hall and Big East player Desi Rodriguez!

This is a chance for scouts of teams from all over the world, not just the NBA, to get a good first hand look on guys who may not exactly be first round picks. If any of the four Big East players do well in this camp, it could bode well for their future in the NBA.

Here is a list of all the 40 college guys at the camp in the tweet below and the G League’s official website has the list of all 80 here.

The next event will be the NBA combine, taking place from May 14-19th. It’s a lot more of a glamorous event and it’s even televised which is great cause it gives you an even more of a sneak peak at some of the prospects there. Obviously the stars of the show will be guys like Zion Williamson, Ja Morant, and Jarret Culver but it does’t mean there won’t be some Big East to watch for. There will be only two guys from the conference: Shamorie Ponds and Eric Paschall. Ponds is slated by some mock drafts as a second round pick but he certainly could skyrocket up draft boards with a solid combine performance. He was one of the top players in the conference last year and showed the ability to score at all three levels. Ponds would be a good pick for any team looking for depth at the point guard spot.

Paschall is a candidate to be taken in the late 20’s of the draft although it’s more likely he will be taken early in the second round. He certainly could be a good backup big man for any contending team with his defense and ability to knock down shots from deep.

You can take a look at the full list of guys invited to the combine below.