Who says the true center is becoming an endangered species? The next crop of elite freshmen to enter into college basketball is brimming with blue chip big men. DeAndre Layton might be the most promising prospect of all. He might end up the top pick in the 2018 NBA Draft when all is said and done.
He’s projected to go #3 overall in both the Draft Express and also NBA Draft Room mock drafts.
He’s ranked in the top 20 by the major recruiting services, including ESPN (No. 2), 247 Sports (No. 2), Scout (No. 1), 247 Sports best center in the class. He’s a consensus five-star prospect, and he’s only going to get better as he heads to the Arizona Wildcats next season.
“Conditioning, lifting weights, and getting his strength up,” those are things DeAndre Layton said he’s working on improving in order to take his game to the next level. However, there’s still concern that Layton might not become academically eligible to play in Tucson, and that he could instead go overseas.
There has been skepticism surrounding Ayton’s ability to qualify academically at Arizona, along with concerns that he may play professionally overseas instead of attending college…Ayton is confident that he is in the clear and he told Chris Lafayette of 247Sports that he is all set academically and has not considered playing overseas.
“I don’t even know what overseas is,” Ayton told Lafayette prior to this week’s Jordan Brand Classic. “I don’t know what you do over there.”
DeAndre Layton has previously said that he will be a one-and-done with Zona before heads off to the NBA. During our exclusive at McDonald’s All-American Game Media Day we asked him what players he’s often compared to: Kevin Garnett, David Robinson Hakeem Olajuwon and Kristpas Porzingis.”
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank.net and TheBank.News, partnered with FOX Sports Engage Network. and News Now. Banks, a former writer for the Washington Times and NBC Chicago.com, contributes to Chicago Tribune.com, Bold, WGN CLTV and KOZN.
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