Indiana’s Victor Oladipo flying up NBA draft boards
By COLLIN O’CONNOR
ISL Correspondent
Everyone has seen his highlight-reel plays: the steals, the dunks, the acrobatic passes on the interior. Victor Oladipo’s athleticism has never been in question since he arrived at Indiana, but his abilities as a basketball player were very raw coming out of high school.
Two years into his career with the Hoosiers, however, he is starting to become a much more polished basketball player, and people are starting to notice.
Oladipo shot himself right into the Player-of-the-Year race after an eyebrow-raising performance against then-No. 1 Michigan at Assembly Hall. According to a tweet sent out by ESPN’s Jay Bilas, only four points were scored by a player going against Oladipo that night in 45 possessions.
That solid play continued this past Sunday in the Hoosiers’ win at Ohio State as well, when he scored 26 points on 8-for-10 shooting, including 9-for-10 from the free-throw line. Again on the national stage, Oladipo showed exactly why he is one of the best college players in the country..
Now, NBA teams and experts are starting to notice. Draft Express moved him all the way up to number nine on their mock draft for this week, hypothetically going to the Minnesota Timberwolves. They rave about his defensive prowess and his continued improvement on the offensive end.
In moving from his sophomore season to this year only, his field goal percentage has increased from 47% to 64.5%. He has shot a sizzling 53.8% from beyond the 3-point arc in 39 attempts.
These shooting numbers have led him to being one of the most efficient players in the country when it comes to the Player Efficiency Rating (PER) that many NBA GMs and teams are starting to implement as part of their evaluation of players.
Indiana’s most exciting player is now 13th in the nation in offensive efficiency, ahead of Big Ten scorers Trey Burke and Deshaun Thomas.
With these types of offensive improvements to go along with his always-stellar performance on the defensive end, his play is starting to be noticed by a national audience and that could lead him to a spot in the lottery come June. Especially in a draft class that is weaker than that of recent years, this may be the best time for him to make his talents available. However, there is no doubt that he will continue to improve if he so chooses to remain in Bloomington for his senior year.
His decision on whether or not to test the professional waters will come at a later date, but the one thing that is for sure right now is that Victor Oladipo is playing like someone who can make a lot of money in the draft. And, if he continues to play and improve that this pace, his draft stock will only continue to improve as the season goes on.
With his set of athleticism and raw talent, the potential for Oladipo is unlimited. He is just the type of potential that NBA GMs could be very excited to put their jersey on next season.
