People across college basketball — from Dan Hurley to Bruce Pearl to Jay Bilas — lauded Ryan Kalkbrenner this past season, wondering why Creighton’s 7-foot-1 center wasn’t a first-round pick last summer.
Everything is different entering this year’s NBA draft because, ahead of Wednesday’s first round (7 p.m. on ABC/ESPN), it’s a question of when he will be taken off the board.
And it’s expected to be sooner than later.
After a historic farewell tour, cementing his place among CU greats, Kalkbrenner is on the verge of becoming the seventh Bluejay selected in the first round, and the fourth since the NBA switched to a two-round format in 1989.
Five seasons in college, uncanny verticality and a 7-foot-6 wingspan make Kalkbrenner, a rim-protecting lob threat, one of the most intriguing bigs in the draft.
People are also reading…
“He’s gonna be drafted either late first or early second,” said Bilas, ESPN’s lead college basketball analyst, in a predraft video call on June 18.
Where mock drafts had Kalkbrenner, a projected a second-round selection in each of the past two drafts, as of Tuesday afternoon:
ESPN, Yahoo! and The Ringer: 29th to Phoenix
CBS, Fox and The Athletic: 28th to Boston
NBADraft.net: 26th to Brooklyn
Kalkbrenner left Creighton as a four-time Big East defensive player of the year — only he and Patrick Ewing have done that — with the conference’s career record for blocks (248 to Ewing’s 247) and more NCAA Tournament wins (8) than any Bluejay ever.
This past season, Kalkbrenner averaged 19.2 points and 8.7 rebounds and shot 34.4% from 3-point range, all career highs, while playing more than 34 minutes a game.
The Florissant, Missouri, native was CU’s anchor, coach Greg McDermott’s go-to guy for the first time in his career.
It ended with Kalkbrenner receiving a second-team All-America nod and, after being a multi-time finalist, finally winning the NABC and Naismith DPOYs along with the Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Award given to the top center in the country.
“Seven feet, his wingspan," Bilas said, "that length just adds to his presence in the lane, on the glass and able to protect the rim.”
Kalkbrenner finished his Creighton career with the sixth-best field goal percentage in NCAA history (65.85%, minimum 400 attempts). But McDermott structured his entire defense around Kalkbrenner during their time together for a reason.
Creighton’s drop coverage, designed to force pick-and-roll offenses into inefficient midrange jumpers, is similar to what Kalkbrenner will be asked to do in the NBA. Rangy reach and high IQ help, as does his ability to leave his feet without fouling.
Kalkbrenner played 169 games at Creighton, including 138 starts, and never fouled out. Only 13 times did he have four fouls.
“He’s a rim protector, pick-and-roll lob threat,” Bilas said when asked what stands out about Kalkbrenner. "He’s a really good communicator on defense; he talks out there, and doesn’t miss when he’s within five feet of the basket. He shoots a ridiculous percentage from the field because he takes nothing but good shots.”
All of that helped — helps — prime Kalkbrenner for what lies ahead.
He could develop as a backup center with a title contender like Boston, with upside to start in the future, or contribute immediately for an upstart, rebuilding organziation like Brooklyn. His destiny, like so many others, depends on the landing spot.
Kalkbrenner opted to not scrimmage at the NBA combine in mid-May. Playing as long and as much as he has, scouts have already seen what he’s capable of.
In March, 10-year veteran Doug McDermott told The World-Herald that Kalkbrenner reminded him of Brook Lopez, the former back-to-the-basket big who adapted his game to thrive on rim protection and floor spacing.
A few people from Auburn — Pearl, Johni Broome and Dylan Cardwell — said Kalkbrenner’s game compared to Walker Kessler’s before the Bluejays lost to the Tigers in this year’s Sweet 16.
Hurley, the coach of a conference rival, likened Kalkbrenner to former UConn center Donovan Clingan, taken No. 7 overall by Portland in the 2024 NBA draft.
“How Ryan Kalkbrenner’s not a first-round pick, it blows my mind,” Hurley said in January. “He should be, easily, a top-20 pick.”
That’s what Jays coach Greg McDermott has thought since Big East media day in October.
“You look back to last year and the draft boards after the season, and Donovan Clingan is a terrific, terrific basketball player — a great college career, he’s gonna have an unbelievable NBA career,” McDermott said, “but is Ryan that much different in the way he impacts the game defensively?
“People didn’t go inside against UConn because (Clingan) blocked it, he changed it or you just wouldn’t take it, and people do the same thing against Creighton for the same reason.”
Kalkbrenner isn’t having some glamorous, over-the-top watch party, fitting for a guy whose legacy thus far is defined by selflessness. But his name will undoubtedly flash across the screen, whether that’s Wednesday or not.
When it does, once a shy 7-footer from just outside of St. Louis, the one who ferociously swats shots and loves to fish and plays guitar, will have officially turned his lifelong hoop dreams into a reality.
0 Comments
Be the first to know
Get local news delivered to your inbox!