Bama's bummer

Tide scrambling after Charles Bediako's decision to stay in the NBA Draft. Plus, New Mexico adds scoring punch and Carmelo's one-and-done ranking.

Author

Mike Miller
May 23, 2023

All hail Nikola Jokic. The NBA’s best player has the Denver Nuggets in their first NBA Finals, where they’ll be the betting favorite to win it all. Maybe Christian Braun is the lucky charm … after all, how many other players have gone from an NCAA Tournament title to an NBA championship a year later?

There are two obvious ones — Bill Russell and Magic Johnson — but there are three others who’ve gone from title to title. The answer’s at the bottom of the Daily.

Let's get to Tuesday’s news.

1. ‘Bama 2023-24 outlook takes a hit

There are always some surprises when it comes to the NBA Draft. Here’s one that qualifies as such: Charles Bediako will reportedly stay in the 2023 draft.

The 7-0 sophomore center was the anchor of Alabama’s defense during its superb 2022-23 season.

The Tide stormed to a 31-6 record, swept the SEC regular-season and tourney titles, and was a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament. While Bediako’s counting stats don’t jump out — he averaged 6.4 points, 6 rebounds and 1.8 blocks a game — he started all 37 games and ranked as the ninth-best player in overall impact, per Evan Miya.

His work on the defensive glass and as a rim protector was the main reasons why Alabama led the nation in effective field goal percentage (41.3), 2-point field-goal percentage (40.8) and was fifth in overall defensive efficiency.

It’s not a stretch for Bediako to stay in the NBA Draft (he performed well at the G-League Camp, and will be an excellent rim protector and rim runner). It just feels like a year too early.

The move reportedly caught the Alabama coaching staff by surprise, who will now scramble to fill his role through the portal. Junior Nick Pringle also would expect to see more minutes.

Bediako is the fifth NBA departure from the Tide, who also lost Brandon Miller and Noah Clowney. Guards Mark Sears and Jahvon Quinerly are in the NBA Draft process but are expected to return by the May 31 deadline. Guards Jaden Bradley and Nimari Burnett also transferred from the program.

It’s not a bare cupboard, though. Six new players will be in Tuscaloosa next year, including top-100 prospects Sam Walters and Kris Parker, and CAA POY Aaron Estrada.

Also in NBA Draft news, Tennessee center Uros Plavsic will take his elbows pro next season and skip an extra year of college.

2. Lobos add some scoring pop

New Mexico’s transfer portal haul already added some size up front in Nelly Junior Joseph (Iona) and Mustapha Amzil (Dayton), and some guard depth behind Jamal Mashburn Jr. and Jaelen House in Jemari Baker (Fresno State).

Now, it’s got a little more size and scoring on the wing as well.

Mushila’s a 6-5 wing who averaged 14.5 points and 9.9 rebounds a game last year for Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, earning All-Southland honors in the process. He’s not a floor-stretcher (he shot just 39 3-pointers last season), but he thrives in the lane and crashes the glass.

“We are very excited about the addition of Isaac to our basketball program,” coach Richard Pitino said in a release. “Isaac is a versatile and fierce competitor. He is a winner on and off the court and will make an impact for us next season.”

The winning is also important. Mushila’s been in the last two NCAA Tournaments, something New Mexico will be focused on after its fade in the 2022-23 season.

In other transfer portal news:

3. The standard for a one-and-done player

One-and-done players were common before Carmelo Anthony. And they continue to be part of the NCAA basketball-to-NBA landscape. We’ll likely see more than a dozen one-and-done players selected in the first round of the 2023 draft.

But it’s Carmelo, who announced his retirement on Monday after 19 seasons in the NBA, who set the standard for the modern one-and-done college player.

That’s how it goes when you reach the mountain top in your only season.

Unusual is the player who gets their number retired despite playing only one season. If ever a player warranted it, it was Melo at Cuse. (That happened in 2013.) He was the national freshman of the year, the Final Four Most Outstanding Player and a consensus Second Team All-American. The only reason he wasn't a First Team selection was due to the extreme rarity that honor was appended to freshmen; Anthony's season basically changed the tenor of voters in the years after he left college.

...

It takes a special player to change that dynamic, and that's exactly what an 18-year-old Carmelo was.

Syracuse was already a national program when Anthony got there, but his superb frosh campaign lifted Syracuse as a brand all the more. Anthony's play was one of the biggest stories in basketball in 2003. His NBA stock skyrocketed; the term "one-and-done" became more and more commonplace after he vaulted to the NBA.

Today, a high-level practice facility bears his name on Syracuse's campus. He's among the most beloved figures in that city's history.

Naturally, it begs the question: Is Carmelo the best one-and-done player in men’s college basketball history?

I’ve always leaned toward Anthony Davis, mostly because of the regular-season dominance of that 2011-12 Kentucky squad, which was 38-2 overall and mostly breezed to the NCAA Tournament title that season behind Davis’ uncommon defensive dominance. He wasn’t the incredible offensive dynamo that Carmelo was — even as a freshman, Carmelo’s mid-range game was pro-ready; he was unguardable in the halfcourt — and had just as many blocks (6) as points in the title game against Kansas.

Carmelo went for 20 and 10 in his title game. Maybe that’s worth more.

ANYWAY, what I do know is that even if AD is No. 1, Carmelo is right on his heels — not Zion Williamson.

Credit to CBS Sports for creating a graphic to promote social media engagement. Zion was awesome. Carmelo was better.

Who’s the 1?

When the deadline to withdraw from the NBA Draft hits next week, expect to see a bunch of updated Too-Early-Top-25 Lists (we’ll have the same). With a handful of key returning players, expect Duke to be atop most of those lists. But Jeff Goodman explains why he’s got Kansas at No. 1.

Links as you decide what to binge-watch before the NBA Finals start.

Trivia answer: Henry Bibby (UCLA ‘72 to Knicks ‘73), Billy Thompson (Louisville ‘86 to Lakers ‘87) and Arnie Ferrin (Utah ‘48 to Lakers 49).

Thanks for reading The Field of 68 Daily! If you have a news tip or feedback, email us at [email protected].