With the UCLA basketball team dominating China, there isn’t much news coming from the Bruins except for the fact that they are really good at basketball when they aren’t in the United States.
So we turn to recruiting, and more specifically, we take a look at five-star small forward Wayne Selden (6’5”, 230 pounds) out of Tilton, New Hampshire, player who, according to Scout and ESPN, has UCLA in his list of top six schools.
First, as is our custom, some highlights via el UstedTube:
You can close your mouth now. It’s not polite to … like … keep your mouth open.
Even if it is after watching one of the best highlight tapes you’ve seen from a high school recruit in a very long time. Because, make no mitsake, this dude was fun to watch. Every second of this highlight tape was incredible, and it’s easily one of my favorite highlight mixes in awhile.
From this, we can make a whole hell of a lot of assumptions about Selden. He seems to be freakishly athletic and his strong-point is most definitely his strength and ability to attack the basket while also being able to absorb contact and finish through mid-air bumps. He’s crafty like crazy and seems to own a ridiculous basketball IQ.
That’s based on this real-fun-to-stare-at mix-tape, but what about the scouting reports from the guys who have seen him play more than just two minutes of actual basketball?
They agree with a lot of what we’ve seen. He’s terrific at driving directly into defenders, drawing contact and finishing, making him a perennial and-one threat. They say he’s as solid of a passer as we perceive him to be, and he has all the speed that you can ask for.
What they don’t like about him is his jumper, which needs vast improvement, especially as a 6’5” wingman. They also want to see if the dude grows further — he’s a bit younger than his class of 2013 counterparts since he reclassified from the class of 2014 — which could determine whether he’ll wind up playing as a wingman or a shorter power forward.
What isn’t talked about much is his ball-handling, and though it looks very good to these eyes in the highlight vids, we have a small sample size. It’d be nice to see if he is that good with his handles, and if he is, he’ll be a hell of a player with legit superstar potential.
We say that about everyone, though, but we’re going to be candid and say we like this guy the most.
GO BRUINS!!!