FanShot

Davis: A Big Man Heir Apparent To Greg Oden?

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If you hadn't noticed, there has yet to be an elite center come through the recruiting ranks since Portland Trail Blazers center Greg Oden was the No. 1 pick in the 2007 NBA Draft. The next best thing was probably Sacramento Kings big man DeMarcus Cousins, taken No. 5 overall in the 2010 NBA Draft. There's also tons of (justified) hype about incoming Kentucky freshman Anthony Davis, but he's extremely slender, which cools the jets a little bit. Seth Davis of SI.com reports that Andre Drummond, a 6-foot-11 big man from Connecticut, has finally emerged as someone who deserves to be mentioned in the same sentence as Oden, who dominated during his prep career... ----------------------- Drummond is young for a high school graduate; he will turn 18 on Aug. 10. He may be well-known among basketball junkies and recruitniks -- he's ranked No. 2 in the senior class by both Scout.com and Rivals.com, and ESPNU has him first -- but the casual fan has heard very little about him. After seeing him compete this week for his Connecticut Basketball Club at the adidas Super64 tournament in Las Vegas, I can report that Drummond is a special, special talent. I'd go so far as to say he's the best big man I've seen come out of high school basketball since Greg Oden six years ago. Drummond is a bona fide freak. He's built like a man, yet he has great control of his body. He runs the floor like a gazelle, and just when he starts looking lost with the ball, he'll fire a pinpoint, no-look pass from almost anywhere on the court. From a skill standpoint he is far from a finished product -- his free throw shooting is so atrocious he launched two air balls during one game -- but that is curable. As I sat with a bunch of college coaches with our jaws agape, we conducted a running debate over which NBA player Drummond reminded us of the most. The most popular answers were Amar'e Stoudemire, Dwight Howard and the young Shawn Kemp. ----------------------- -- Ben Golliver | benjamin.golliver@gmail.com | Twitter