Here is your box score from Game One at the G League Elite Camp. pic.twitter.com/fgt80qy3Mq — Sam Vecenie (@Sam_Vecenie) May 13, 2019 West Virginia forward Sagaba Konate is in Chicago participating in the inaugural G League Elite Camp with 39 other college prospects. This event is happening alongside a similar showcase for 40 G League draft prospects. A handful of the 80 players will be invited to the NBA Draft Combine, which begins tomorrow in Chicago. Konate had 11 points and 12 rebounds, which was one of two double-doubles from the two games Monday and the second-best rebound total. Konate also tied for the most shots taken. He was 5-for-14 from the floor and 1-for-5 from 3-point range. Perhaps most promising was his playing time, which was the high for the game. Today's action is being streamed online and begins at 10:45 a.m. Konate's team plays the first game and will be wearing black.<doc-sep>Former Syracuse basketball standout Oshae Brissett has really impressed at the G-League Elite Camp. Here is what the experts are saying. We still don’t know if Oshae Brissett is going to return to the Syracuse basketball squad next season. Although if we were doing updated educated guesses right now, it doesn’t look good. Currently, Brissett is participating in the G-League Elite Camp. It’s the first year the camp is allowing collegiate athletes to participate and strut their stuff in front of all 30 NBA teams. The camp is from May 12th through the 14th at Quest Multisport in Chicago. If anyone thinks this is a fruitless combine, look no further than the NBA G-League website for some success stories from last year who earned NBA contracts: Naz Mitrou-Long went on to earn a Two-Way Contract with the Utah Jazz Scott Machado (Lakers) and Billy Garrett (Knicks) also went on to earn NBA gigs this past season. Oshae has already found early success according to Lead NBA scout/draft writer for Bleacher Report Jonathan Wasserman: Casual shooting drills but figure thirsty Syracuse fans wanna hear Oshae Brissett just hit 15-25 from 3 — Jonathan Wasserman (@NBADraftWass) May 13, 2019 My first question is where was this at Syracuse? I’m only kidding, sort of. But the love didn’t stop there, Sam Vecenie of The Athletic shared his observations from the NBA G-League Elite Camp as well: Oshae Brissett also looks terrific so far. Great frame is showing up, and his jumper looks good — Sam Vecenie (@Sam_Vecenie) May 13, 2019 The very thing that impressed Syracuse fans in Oshae’s first season was his raw potential. He showed glimpses in his freshman campaign that had NBA teams salivating, although not enough to invite him to the NBA Combine in 2018 or 2019. So instead he’s here at the elite camp and he obviously has a major chip on his shoulder from not being invited. Oshae spoke to the NBA G-League reporter and shared some of his thoughts: “We’re in the top-100 who are close to being drafted so it really humbles you knowing all the hard work you put in is finally paying off and today was a great day.” Oshae Brissett (15 PTS, @Obrissy) reflects on his selection for the #EliteCamp and the keys to Team 2’s close W! @Cuse_MBB pic.twitter.com/HCjcRIcLW7 — NBA G League (@nbagleague) May 13, 2019 Sam Vecenie reiterated after Game 1 at the G-League Elite Camp that Oshae Brissett was one of the players who stood out to him in a positive way. Here is how he did vs Tyus Battle in NGSS Test League game: 15 points (5-of-9 shooting), four rebounds, a steal, perfect with his free throws (3-of-3). And his team won 77-76 thanks to his awesome performance. Oshae still has until May 29th to ultimately decide if he wants to return to Syracuse or start his professional career. Tyus Battle is the other Syracuse player going through the NBA waters, but he has already confirmed that he’s staying in the draft process regardless of what happens with NBA teams and the combine process.<doc-sep>The invites have been made from the G League Elite Camp to the NBA Draft Combine. According to Jonathan Givony, Virginia Cavaliers forward Mamadi Diakite was not among the invites to the NBA Combine. 10 players advance from the @nbagleague Combine to NBA Combine: Marial Shayok- Iowa St Terence Davis- Ole Miss DaQuan Jeffries- Tulsa Cody Martin- Nevada Dewan Hernandez- Miami Tacko Fall- UCF Jared Harper- Auburn Tyler Cook- Iowa O'Shae Brissett- Syracuse Reggie Perry- Miss St — Jonathan Givony (@DraftExpress) May 14, 2019 As we wrote a week ago, while it’s not a given that he would not be drafted and doesn’t necessarily mean that he will pull his name out of the draft pool, if last year’s NBA Draft is any indication, the lack of the invite is a blow to his chances: An important note when it comes to Diakite, the NBA Draft Combine and the G League Elite Camp is that in 2018, no underclassmen that weren’t invited to the NBA Draft Combine were drafted in the 2018 NBA Draft. And of further interest, last year, 185 underclassmen declared for the NBA. This year, there are 175 underclassmen that have declared for early entry. Last year of the 69 NBA Draft Combine attendees, 56 were underclassmen. While Kyle Guy, De'Andre Hunter, and Ty Jerome have said they are staying in the NBA Draft pool, Diakite has left the door open to return. Without an invite to the NBA Draft Combine, the odds are raised considerably of his return to UVA. May 29th is the deadline for Diakite to withdraw his name from the early entrant pool as discussed by Brandon Osborne two weeks ago: College underclassmen who wish to retain their eligibility and return to their school will need to withdraw their name by May 29 and terminate their agent if they signed one. This day is key for UVA as it would be the last day for Diakite to announce he is returning to UVA. It’s likely that Diakite would announce his intentions before this day. June 20th is the day of the 2019 NBA Draft.<doc-sep>
The NBA G League revealed its Elite Camp invitees on Monday, and that included former Wisconsin Badgers center—and current Wisconsin Badgers legend—Ethan Happ. The NBA G League Elite Camp runs for three days this month (May 12-14) in Chicago leading up to the NBA Draft. Happ will need to stand out amongst a crowded a field of 39 other draft-eligible players in the hopes of getting one of the handful of leftover invites to the NBA Draft Combine, which runs from May 14-19 and also takes place in Chicago. Happ will see a few familiar faces at the G-League Elite Camp as former Big Ten rivals Amir Coffey (Minnesota), Tyler Cook (Iowa) and James Palmer Jr. (Nebraska) will be in attendance. Kenny Wooten (Oregon) will be there as well, and Happ should try his hardest not to do any drills with him and risk having flashbacks to the NCAA Tournament. Ethan Happ invited to G League Elite Camp. Show ‘em what you got, E! ➡️ first step on road to the NBA pic.twitter.com/6SOcGDPgNr — Wisconsin Basketball (@BadgerMBB) May 7, 2019 While some may scoff at a former All-America center starting in the G League, it is probably the right way to go for Happ. His inability to score outside of the paint, let alone make a respectable number of threes, was going to leave him undrafted in the NBA regardless of how many college accolades he collected. If Happ can catch on with a team in the G League, continue to play solid defense, rebound well, and pass better than most his height ALL WHILE IMPROVING HIS J ... well, then we can talk about an NBA team taking a look at him. Until then, though, it’s time for him to get acquainted with the three-time champion Rio Grande Valley Vipers and, uh, you know ... the other teams in the league. The NBA officially announces the 66 players invited to the NBA Combine in Chicago pic.twitter.com/1o2U0XShtk — Jonathan Givony (@DraftExpress) May 8, 2019 In other Big Ten-related news at the next level, a few familiar names were invited to the NBA Combine. Ignas Brazdeikis, Charles Matthews and Jordan Poole (Michigan), Carsen Edwards (Purdue), Bruno Fernando (Maryland), Romeo Langford (Indiana) and Isaiah Roby (Nebraska) all have the opportunity to showcase their talents. I don’t know if any of you remember this name, but a Tyler Herro (Kentucky) will also be participating. ::ducks::