DJO = 27th Best Player in College Bball per Yahoo Sports

[JustinLewisFanClubPres]

http://collegebasketball.rivals.com/photofeature.asp?fid=37965

[bamamarquettefan]

Congrats DJO!  i see Draft Express has him all the way up to a projected #27 in the 2012 draft as well.  Pretty good considering he wasn't even on their honorable mention lists last I checked.

Could we have Wesley Matthews and then three straight years of 1st round picks?  Wow.

[Les Nessman]

Congrats DJO!  i see Draft Express has him all the way up to a projected #27 in the 2012 draft as well.  Pretty good considering he wasn't even on their honorable mention lists last I checked.

Could we have Wesley Matthews and then three straight years of 1st round picks?  Wow.

We may also have two players drafted this year if Crowder plays tough and continues to be a leader on the team.

[tower912]

I think DJO is going to have a great senior year, but first round good?  Is DJO better than Jerel?    Because the undrafted Jerel was the last dominant 6'2 shooting guard we had.   If DJO matches Jerel's senior season #'s, we are going to have a really nice season.  To be drafted in the first round though, DJO is going to have to fly past the Jerel level and reach the 03-Wade level. The market for 6'2 shooting guards in the NBA is worse than the job market in general.   I do plead guilty to not seeing Lazar or Jimmy getting drafted in the first round going into their senior seasons, but both turned into complete ballplayers who could score from anywhere and guard 4-5 spots on the floor.  DJO is only ever going to be able to guard 2, and his defense has been erratic the last two years.   Finally, there is a glut of players who could have gone pro this year but read the tea leaves correctly on the NBA labor front.  

[bamamarquettefan]

To be drafted in the first round though, DJO is going to have to fly past the Jerel level and reach the 03-Wade level.  

I agree with most of what you write, but not that statement.  The greatest pro players are not necessarily the greatest college players or vice versa.

Jerel McNeal was picked as one of the top 10 players in college basketball his senior year (AP All-American), so there is almost no way DJO can fly by him unless he is all-world.
Tony Smith was just an honorable mention All-American, so one of the 50 or so best college players on the same scale - so he didn't fly by Jerel, nor did Doc Rivers, who played more NBA games than any other Marquette players, or Wes Mathews.  Doc really didn't dominate at the college level with defenders packing it in against him, but when they were forced to man up one-on-one in the pros against him he ran a great show.

Now I get that you aer also talking about 6-2 or so players, but remember Jerel weighs 190 and was really too frail to play a 2 in the NBA, and was not an incredible athlete.  DJO is one of the most athletic guys in the country and at 215 has a much better chance to be a 2 even at 6-foot-2.

Again, most of what you wrote I agree with, which is why i was surprised that DJO had gone from not even on the charts to No. 27.  Hopefully some scouts are seeing some things that are making them radically change their appraisal.

[NersEllenson]

  DJO is one of the most athletic guys in the country and at 215 has a much better chance to be a 2 even at 6-foot-2.

- This....DJO's athleticism and physique are NBA caliber already.  Many compare him to Ben Gordon - and to me that's not very far off - with DJO being a better athlete than Gordon, but perhaps not quite as crafty offensively.

By all accounts, DJO had a great summer league down in Carolina - and DJO plays with that chip on his shoulder/junkyard dog mentality....I can see DJO definitely getting drafted anywhere from 20-40...

[bilsu]

I would think that DJO gets drafted. However, 3-4 players that would have been first rounders this year stayed in college, because of the potential NBA lockout, which means this draft will be very deep.