All 30 NBA teams have spoken to Stony Brook head coach Steve Pikiell about 6-foot-8 big man Jameel Warney, and the San Antonio Spurs have seen him multiple times.
“We probably had seven [NBA teams] in [Wednesday], the Lakers are coming today [Thursday],” Pikiell told SNY.tv on Thursday.
“The team that has been out the most has been the San Antonio Spurs, and that’s ironic to me because I think they do an unbelievable job and have seen him the most, probably five times. They really are intrigued by him. They love his skill set and they love his hands. He’ll have to transfer to the four spot in the league. He’s a five here for us, but he’s really a four/five guy. They love his hands, they love his ability to pass, and the more they see him they love the other things that he does, too. They’ve done their homework their most.”
A Plainfield, N.J., native who played for New Jersey power Roselle Catholic, Warney is the reigning America East Player of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year. Last year he led the league in scoring (16.4 ppg), rebounding (11.7) and blocks (2.5). He led Division 1 with 24 double-doubles and 409 total rebounds.
Entering this season, Warney was named to the Karl Malone Award watch list, is No. 93 on CBSSports.com’s top 100 players in 2015-16 and ranks No. 35 on DraftExpress’ top seniors.
“If he was at UConn, he’d be the best big guy at UConn, period,” said Pikiell, who played at UConn. “He’s the best passing big guy in the country. And he’s true low-post player. He’s unique. No one wants to play in the post anymore, and he’s so comfortable and so crafty in the post with his footwork. And he’s in great shape and he’s got explosive legs.
“People compare him to Dejuan Blair and Malik Rose and those kinds of guys. I think those are fair comparisons as to who he is. He’s loyal and he’s a great kid. He’s an unbelievable kid. He’s gonna graduate in December.”
After that, he hopes to play in the NBA next season.
“Every year, there’s a smaller power forward that gets drafted, and finds a way to make his skill set work in the NBA,” Warney told Slam.
