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Should the Utah Jazz Draft Another Weber State Wildcat?

The Jazz took a flyer on Weber State standout Joel Bolomboy. Let’s look at Jeremy Senglin.

By Daniel West Updated
NCAA Basketball: Weber State at Brigham Young Jeff Swinger-USA TODAY Sports

I know what you’re thinking. “Hey, wait a minute! The Utah Jazz are still playing basketball! Why are we talking about 2nd-round draft picks?” Three reasons:

  1. I have some time on my hands this weekend.
  2. The fellow I’m about to evaluate could be a valuable asset for an NBA team next season.
  3. The Jazz will still have their lone 2nd-round pick when the draft rolls around, assuming they a) don’t trade it and b) finish with a better record than the New York Knicks or Detroit Pistons. They also own the Golden State Warriors’ pick this year, which will basically be a 2nd-rounder.

Now, I do admit that I’m biased. I’ve watched this guy play for a long time now, because I go to many Weber State basketball games. Damian Lillard was incredible. Everyone knew he was going to the NBA. I don’t know many people who agreed with me in 2012, but I had Joel Bolomboy pegged as a future NBA draftee from the first time I saw him play. I have similar notions about Jeremy Senglin

First, the eyeball test. This guy can flat-out shoot, especially from downtown. Behold:

Wide open? Count on it. Off the dribble? I say he’s one of the best in the country at that. Two-guys-in-his-face stepback? All day. Watching him shoot 3-point shots is like watching an NBA 2k player with the sliders turned up. He’s decent at driving, too.

With that in mind, let’s look at some stats. I decided to use totals because advanced stats aren’t available for the older players.

sports-reference.com

I know this is hard to see, but here’s the gist of it—I went back and examined the college careers of some good and not-so-good players and compared them to Mr. Senglin. As far as shooting goes, he’s about average. However, by that metric, Stephen Curry is “average,” so that’s really not a bad thing.

It’s not like Joel Bolomboy was going to be the best player since Kareem, but the Jazz took a chance on him in the 2nd round anyway. I say they take a similar chance on Jeremy Senglin. If he can bring that smooth shot to the NBA, they’ll be getting a steal.

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