FanPost

Wisconsin's Hometown Hero




The theme of the NBA lightly has been homecoming. Mainly because the league revolves around some guy Labrown Jamison or something. I think it has been interesting to see the diagrams where they show what team would be made of if the were only composed of local players. Our current iteration stars: Caron Butler, Mike Dunleavy Jr, Wes Matthews, Steve Novak, and Devin Harris. Conversely the Wizards would have Melo, KD, Ty Lawson, Hibbert, and Rudy Gay. The rest are here . So it got me thinking who from Wisconsin could save the Bucks? Our options in the NBA are remarkably poor. Looking back at a list of Mr. Wisconsin Basketball here I can't even recognize all the names in the last ten years. The last three years fair slightly better:

2012: Sam Dekker: I won't go into details here, most people on here also follow Badger Basketball, but if per se we got our hometown roster I'd expect him to be an asset to our team.

2013: Luke Fischer: Center who transferred from Indiana to Marquette at semester. It's really cliche but he is nimble 7-footer who can knock down an occasional 3. IF he makes it to the NBA he will most likely be a backup center.

The class of 2014 is where it gets interesting

Kevon Looney: Ranked 13th in the ESPN 100. 5 star recruit going to play at UCLA in the fall. Listed at 6'8" plays well above his listed size when he went head to head against Diamond Stone (listed below) he held his own fairly well. Despite also being listed at PF, which he will probably play at UCLA, he has the handle to take guys off the dribble and the shooting ability to knock down 3's at a good clip. This means he will likely be a combo forward when he makes the transition to the NBA. I expect him to stay two years at UCLA, but he could bolt after one. He should get a decent amount of playing time year one, because of his all around skill set.

2015: There are a couple of big boys in this class, who have at least a fair shot at being NBA all stars.

Diamond Stone: Most of you who follow Highschool Wisconsin basketball have heard of him or those who follow college recruiting. He has been ranked somewhere in between 1 and 5 in the nation for his class since his freshmen year. And this is all for good reason he is 6'10" dominant low post player. He blocks alot of shots and can also step out and hit an elbow jumper with ease. I've been able to see him play live twice once at Little Chute high school in 2013 and another at the state tournament last year. Looked like two different players he got in early foul trouble in Little Chute and wasn't overly effective at the time. He dominated the state tournament though. Last year he averaged 24 & 13 for his high school. I'm privilege to very little that would be classified insiders news so this one feels particular juicy, I have a buddy whose sister dated Diamond for awhile and at the time (Winter Break this year) his final 3 was UW, UNC, and Marquette. Diamond should be your classic one and done player. I'd say the odds of him not paying in the NBA are around 5%. He is very athletic for his size and that is a huge NBA commodity.

Henry Ellenson: Despite coming from a family where all of his older siblings played at a high level and his dad played at both Marquette and Wisconsin. Henry Ellenson shot up the rankings in the last year listed as high as 5 on ESPN and as low as 17 on Rivals.

Listed at 6'9" 205 Lbs will be an NBA PF if he makes it there. Probably more of a two and done player then Stone. Last year for his highschool he averaged 27p/13r/3b/2a. Really stuffed the stat sheet night in and night out. Showcases a very high basketball IQ when he is on the floor. One of those players that makes difficult passes out of double teams and makes his teammates better. Ellenson in many way is the Anti-Thesis of Stone, he uses a much more refined skillset and relies less on athleticism.

Bonus Prospect: Jordan McCabe for those of you who do follow the WIAA this pick will seem a little more puzzling as the aforementioned five are established stars.

I'll admit to a fair amount of hometown bias. McCabe will play for my High School, that said he has been somewhat of a phenom since he was in 4th grade. He has been on Ellen and the Tonight show for his handles. He did a show with Steph Curry at a Warriors Game. I'll let you see a little film before I dive in.

He can't dunk, sorry to disappoint, but those handles are unreal. He will probably just crack a few top 100 lists, because he doesn't have eye popping size or athleticism, but he has better handles then alot of NBA players do. I work with a relative of his so Insider Alert: I hear alot about him. He does have national recognition. He works out regularly with Keifer Sykes (Who?) Horizon League Player of the year and the main reason UWGB was nationally relevant last year. He has played numerous times with Sam Dekker and other badgers. Now this one I found especially intriguing he played with Jabari in a Chicago based tournament and Jabari and others on the team loved him. I'm sure based on that film you can see why, this kid is a top tier passer, our highschool summer league team went from meh to woah when he stepped on the court. He elevates his teammates play level.

Conclusion: Spoiler Alert: None of these guys will be as good as Lebron. However odds are two maybe all of them will be NBA players, if we can get them to come play for the Bucks at a discount that'd be a huge win for us. Especially if Stone or Ellenson become all stars. We are seeing it now with the KD to Washington rumors. Having stars from your hometown area at least could get us into the mix. I'd consider it a huge win for us as a state if any of these guys make it big, just at the potential of them joining us in the future.

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