NBA draft projections for USC’s Isaiah Collier were in the 10-14 range shortly after the NBA draft in mid-May. Then they started moving toward number 17, then number 19, then for no. 21 in a recent College Sports Wire projection.
Ultimately, even the final projections before the 2024 NBA Draft, which had Collier in the 19-21 pick range, overestimated how much NBA teams would value him. The USC product fell to No. 29 on Wednesday night. He earned a first-round selection and avoided the ultimate disaster of being invited to the draft and then not hearing his name called at any point in the first round, forced to spend a night thinking about being snubbed by 30 NBA teams. . However, the drop to 29th is still shocking for a prospect who was viewed as a potential top-five pick when the 2023-2024 college basketball season began in early November last year.
Collier dominated Kansas State in its season opener at USC. The Trojans looked, that night, like a potential top-three seed in the NCAA Tournament. Collier looked like a top-five caliber pick. He scored three baskets to one in the first half of the KSU game. This is difficult to do. He was the best player on the court by a large margin, playing his first collegiate game as a freshman.
It never got better from there. Collier’s season was marred by injuries – that has to be said – but he also never felt comfortable in Andy Enfield’s system. Now Collier starts from scratch with the rebuilding Jazz. He’s likely to have a rough first season, but if he learns what he needs to learn, he could become a really good NBA player in 2027.
We’re definitely rooting for him here at Trojans Wire.
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