To most people, Minnesota is known as the State of Hockey. Since 2006, the state has annually hosted Hockey Day Minnesota to showcase talent throughout the state. Current NHL players like Zach Parise, T.J Oshie and Ryan McDonagh + a bunch more all hail from the Land of 10,000 Lakes. However, Minnesota is oh-so-subtly becoming the State of Basketball, the latest example of this being the 2020 NBA Draft. 

The NBA Draft and Lottery are still a ways away, thanks to COVID-19. The draft is set to take place on October 16th (lottery: August 25). The Athletic released their sixth 2020 NBA Mock Draft, earlier this week. As you might have guessed when you opened this blog, Minnesota could play a major role in that first round.

The Athletic projects that four Minnesota natives will hear their names called on draft night, all of them slated to go in the first round: Tre Jones (Apple Valley), Zeke Nnaji (Hopkins), Daniel Oturu (Cretin-Derham Hall) and Tyrell Terry (DeLaSalle).

Tre Jones

After playing two years for Mike Krzyzewski at Duke, it’s no surprise to see Jones on this mock draft. The Apple Valley native averaged 16.2 points, 6.4 assists and 4.2 rebounds while shooting 42.3% from the field and 36.1% from deep.

The younger brother of NBA PG, Tyus Jones, Tre led Duke to a 25-6 record this past season and was named the 2019-20 ACC Defensive Player of the Year and 2019-20 ACC Player of the Year. According to experts, some of Tre’s strengths are his defense and basketball IQ, but you don’t have to read it to believe it; just look at the clip below.

“He made things happen on both ends of the floor and set a tone for Duke. Ultimately, the big question is about his jump shot. He hit 36 percent of his 3-pointers, but most of those came directly off the catch and that number is the result of a hot shooting final seven games.”

“[Drafting Tre in the 1st round] requires you to trust that his improvement as a shooter off the catch is real, and teams aren’t totally convinced yet. One thing going in his favor is that he is considered a super high character kid that will work to rep out jumpers until he gets it right.”

Sam Vacenie – The Athletic

Who will be the third PG taken behind Ja Morant/Darius Garland? Duke’s Tre Jones has made a strong case with his stellar point-of-attack defense and turnover-free style of play. https://t.co/Wvxg0uEGJp pic.twitter.com/2uZ01w38xZ

— Mike Schmitz (@Mike_Schmitz) March 1, 2019

31 points 6 assists and 4 steals last night for Tre Jones! @Tre3Jones pic.twitter.com/RBxMBFMLnz

— Courtside Films (@CourtsideFilms) November 16, 2019

Zeke Nnaji

First, let’s just get this out of the way: Zeke Nnaji would be a great fit for the Jazz in more than one way. Second, Zeke Nnaji is really good at basketball. The former Hopkins star averaged 16.1 points, 8.6 rebounds, and 0.9 blocks while shooting 57% from the field this past season at Arizona. He put up those numbers while playing with fellow highly-touted prospects in Josh Green and Nico Mannion). 

Nnaji was not only named to the 2019-20 All-Pac 12 Freshman Team, but he was also named to the 2019-20 All-Pac 12 First Team and was the 2019-20 Pac-12 Rookie of the Year. That’s not bad for a guy who is just as good a musician. While his 3-point percentage wasn’t the best — he only shot 29.4% from deep — Nnaji seems to be working on that everyday (as shown below). Additionally, Darren Wolfson recently reported that Nnaji is set to meet with the Timberwolves next week.

“The Minnesota native isn’t a particularly great defender right now, but he has good lateral quickness and should be someone who can slide with opposing guards on the perimeter and not be a liability. He also has tremendous touch around the basket and great body control mixed with underrated physical strength.”

“Getting guys who are 6-foot-11 who has potential to shoot it and defend on the perimeter while constantly playing with a high-level motor is super valuable. I don’t know that Nnaji will ever be a star, but I feel confident he’ll likely stick around for a while.”

Sam Vacenie – The Athletic

Here is some fresh video of former Hopkins HS and Arizona star Zeke Nnaji. Shot looks good. Wasn’t that long ago that he won the Iverson Classic 3-point contest. He’ll interview with his hometown #Timberwolves next week. #Twolves pic.twitter.com/Q7kxXJTndZ

— Darren Wolfson (@DWolfsonKSTP) July 16, 2020

Story of Arizona’s opener was 6-11 freshman Zeke Nnaji. Scored 20 using both hands in post, showed some outside touch, fluid in open floor, slid feet well defensively. Gonna be a good player for Wildcats. pic.twitter.com/He3UXxA9sr

— Jonathan Wasserman (@NBADraftWass) November 7, 2019

Daniel Oturu

Vacenie thinks Daniel Oturu was better in college than he will be in the NBA. This past season, Oturu absolutely dominated, putting up gaudy stats of over 20 points and 11 rebounds per game, this past season for the Gophers. 

During a five game stretch in January where the Gophers played Purdue, Northwestern, Michigan State, Michigan and Penn State; Oturu averaged 25.2 points and 13 rebounds, while shooting 57.1% from the field and 45.5% from deep. Dan was also named to the 2019-20 All-Big Ten Second Team and 2019-20 All-Big Ten Defensive Team. He’s also been training with Tre Jones this off-season, too How is this guy sliding down draft boards…?

“Why isn’t Oturu set to go higher on draft night? Well, he’s a bit undersized for the center position. At 6-foot-10 with a 7-foot-2 wingspan, he’ll be a touch undersized for the average NBA center. Second, his movement skills are a bit off. He’s not wildly explosive or athletic, and his overall agility and lateral quickness is a bit stiff. He got by in college, but NBA teams have a concern that putting him in greater space will only exacerbate the issue.

Oturu is more Ibaka than Gasol as he’s not a particularly good passer and is much more comfortable spacing and shooting.

— Sam Vacenie

Future Lottery Pick Daniel Oturu put together an unbelievable season averaging 20PPG, 11RPG, and 2.5BPG on an efficient TS% of 61%. To put his year into perspective, only 3 other players have put up similar numbers: Tim Duncan, Chris Kaman, and Carlos Rodgers. pic.twitter.com/jGey8JrbyJ

— M&G Analytics (@MGAnalytics1818) March 19, 2020

Tyrell Terry

Tyrell Terry is maybe the smartest prospect in the draft this year. In his freshman season at Stanford this past winter, Terry exceeded all expectations and averaged 14.6 points, 4.5 rebounds and 3.2 assists while shooting 44.1% from the field and an outstanding 40.8% from beyond the arc.

How does that three-point percentage stack up against other prospects in the first round? Well, that 40.8% is only behind Jahmi’us Ramsey’s 42.6% and Saddiq Bey’s 45.1%. Those numbers also earned him a spot on the 2019-20 All-Pac 12 Freshman Team.

“Terry is arguably the best shooter in the draft, a player who hit over 40 percent from 3 and 89 percent from the line. He has a long history of being a knockdown guy throughout the course of his high school career so far. He’s good as a shooter on pull-ups, and he’s good as a shooter directly off the catch.”

“He’s 160 pounds and his frame gives teams some pause. He needs to get stronger and keep putting on weight to deal with the rigors of the NBA. Second, his handle is a bit loose. He shows creativity and great body work to get opponents off-balance, but also has a tendency to pick up his dribble far too early.”

— Sam Vacenie

? PROSPECT BREAKDOWN
G Tyrell Terry (@tyterry05)
6’1, 160 lbs.

Stanford freshman guard Tyrell Terry showcased his ability as an unreal shot-maker in his first college season.

Still questions on whether he’ll declare for the NBA Draft, but a top 15 talent to me ???? pic.twitter.com/cTUt6IaReM

— Ethan Piechota (@EthanPiechota) March 31, 2020

Minnesota will most likely have four Minnesotans drafted this year, which will break the record from 2015 in which both Tyus Jones and Rashad Vaughn were drafted. This is outstanding for the basketball community in the Twin Cities and beyond. Hopefully, this draft will lead to more and more Minnesotans being drafted in the future. 

Carson Ruen | Minnesota Sports Fan

The Minnesota Timberwolves still have about a month before the NBA draft lottery takes place, and about three more months until draft day. However, it seems Gersson Rosas and Co. are chugging along in pre-draft process.

That includes meeting with draft prospects they are potentially interested in. According to Darren Wolfson of KSTP, one of those meetings will be with University of Arizona wing and Hopkins MN native, Zeke Nnaji, next week (via virtual interview).

Here is some fresh video of former Hopkins HS and Arizona star Zeke Nnaji. Shot looks good. Wasn’t that long ago that he won the Iverson Classic 3-point contest. He’ll interview with his hometown #Timberwolves next week. #Twolves pic.twitter.com/Q7kxXJTndZ

— Darren Wolfson (@DWolfsonKSTP) July 16, 2020

Does Zeke Nnaji + Minnesota Timberwolves make sense?

We all know about the Minnesota Timberwolves’ top-3 lottery pick. They rightfully earned that spot last season, finishing near the bottom of the NBA. They have another pick pending, though. Assuming the Brooklyn Nets still find a way to make the playoffs, while cooped in the Orlando bubble and undermanned, the Wolves are still set to receive their first round pick for the 2020 draft.

The Nets pick is projected to land around the 15th or 16th overall spot. The PF position is their biggest position of need, and Nnaji could fill it easily. His ability to shoot and to space the floor is exactly what Rosas wants.

The 6’11” Minnesota native was the 2019-20 Pac-12 Freshman of the Year, averaging over 16 points and 8.6 boards per game. Nnaji is currently projected to be a mid-first round pick. He fits what the Wolves are searching for, but he wouldn’t be a fully-ready product right away.

The Wolves have done extensive work on many prospects, though they haven’t yet met with any projected lottery picks… With both the lottery and draft being pushed back due to the pandemic, it appears they have plenty of time to prepare for how they want to execute the draft. Nnaji might be available when it’s their turn, and I don’t think many around here would argue, if Gersson took the hometown kid.

Ameer Eldomiatti | Minnesota Sports Fan

In case your head is emerging from the sand it’s sat in since the weekend, Richard Pitino and the Gopher basketball team took a huge first step in an extremely important 2019 class on Monday:

Tray Jackson is a great get but, if all goes well, he will only be the beginning of a class that could someday land Richard Pitino a statue in the middle of campus and maybe a street or two named after him as well. According to 247Sports, the Gophers currently have 9 players under scholarship for 2019 with Tray. A maximum of 13 scholarship players can be rostered on a NCAA D1 Basketball team. In case math is difficult for you, that means Richard has 4 scholarships remaining for that class, if he chooses to fill them all.

Look, Pitino has already established himself as the best Gopher basketball recruiter of the internet age (just like his bestie over at TCF Bank Stadium). Tubby Smith had some good gets back in his day too, but they never panned out. Is that due to overrated recruits or a lack of coaching ability once they got here? Who knows. I don’t really care. The past is the past. The Gopher future looks bright.

For now, let’s focus on who Richard is pursuing for 2019.

As you can see above, Tray Jackson is already in the top-8 of highest-rated recruits to commit to Minnesota since the internet age, at 247Sports. But, Pitino still has his eyes on plenty of talent that remains available. The two biggest ones are Minnesota kids:

Matthew Hurt is the pride of Minnesota High School basketball right now. He’s being courted HARD by all of the blue bloods like Kansas, North Carolina, Duke, Kentucky, Villanova, etc, etc, etc… You name them, if Matthew has shown any interest, he’s gotten an offer. At this point, the Gophers seem like an underdog but do not underestimate the fact that his brother Michael already plays on the team, and will be a senior when Matthew is a freshman. Both have talked about how special it would be to play together again like they got to for a year at John Marshall in Rochester, MN.

No matter who lands Hurt, he’s likely to only be on campus for one season. He’s already proclaimed himself a “one-and-done” college basketball player.

Zeke Nnaji has climbed up the recruiting rankings over the last few months but is now seen as one of the better players out there, receiving scholarship offers from a lot of the big schools that Matthew has. If Pitino can find a way to land Matthew Hurt and Zeke Nnaji….. wow. Yes, the Gophers would immediately become a National Title contender.

To land Hurt, Pitino’s 2018 squad needs to play well early.

We need to hope Matthew sees a successful 2019 on the horizon, where he can play with Michael, and have a chance to become the biggest legend in Minnesota basketball since Bobby Jackson. Obviously, Matthew knows all of this. The question remains, however; is that something he wants? If so, is it worth turning down all of the blue-bloods to stay home and be that mythical figure? We’ll see.

Even if Hurt and Nnaji don’t stay home, Pitino and his staff are currently “warm” (according to 247Sports) with some out-of-state 4-star prospects. Landing 2-3 of them to round out the class would make this by-far the best class to arrive on campus….ever, even without Hurt.

Also, keep your eyes out for one more Minnesota-native. David Roddy isn’t getting the run that some of his Minnesota counterparts are, but he is much more than the 3-star you see on most sites currently. He has waivered on whether he will play basketball or football, where he also holds multiple D1 offers. Roddy had a really good EYBL Circuit this summer for Howard Pulley.

SCROLL DOWN AND SUBSCRIBE FOR EMAILS WHEN MINNESOTA SPORTS FAN POSTS TO THE WEBSITE! YOU CAN’T TRUST FACEBOOK OR TWITTER TO SHOW YOU THESE DAYS! SO TAKE CONTROL OF YOUR LIFE AND SUBSCRIBE, SUBSCRIBE, SUBSCRIBE! 

ALSO, COMMENT BELOW AND LET US KNOW WHAT YOU THINK 2019 WILL LOOK LIKE WHEN ALL OF THE DUST SETTLES!

Eric Strack
Minnesota Sports Fan @RealMNSportsFan