NEW YORK — You don’t have to look far at the Jordan Brand Classic to find a player, coach or NBA scout praising incoming Kentucky big man Bam Adebayo.
“Bam, he’s just a monster,” 6-foot-10 Florida State signee Jonathan Isaac told SNY.tv.
“These days, guys that have a high motor and a high energy level are very valuable,” DeMatha coach Mike Jones, an assistant with the East team, said on The 4 Quarters Podcast.. “That’s kind of been a separator and Bam is one of the guys that I’ve met in years with one of the highest motors. He plays so hard all the time and with great energy. With the physical attributes that he has [and] with that desire, he’s going to be one heck of a player.”
NBA scouts here — there were 40 at practice on Thursday and all 30 NBA teams are credentialed for Friday night’s game at Barclays Center (8 p.m., ESPN2) — have also been impressed, although they point out he must develop his jumper.
Listed at 6-10 and 240 pounds, Adebayo will suit up for the East team alongside fellow Kentucky signee De’Aaron Fox. Kentucky leads the way with four players in the game, with guard Malik Monk and forward Wenyen Gabriel on the West team.
“We all playing together, we’re playind hard,” Adebayo said this week. “It’s going to be an intense game so I’m just happy I can be in it.”
When Fox, the heir apparent at point guard in Big Blue Nation, missed a jumper during practice on Wednesday, Adebayo teased him, “You can’t shoot.”
“Oh yeah man, we always do that,” Adebayo said. “It’s just something we do, we just like to have fun. You just gotta make the best of it and we’re making the best of it.”
The Kentucky guys have been bonding throughout the McDonald’s All-American Game, the Nike Hoop Summit and now the Jordan Classic.
“Well, we’ve known each other before we even got to these All-Star games,” Adebayo said. “Other than that, I have played Wenyen and De’Aaron and Malik. We just all gotta connect to each other and have fun, so it’s not really that hard.”
He added: “We can’t wait to get to Kentucky. We’re just gonna have fun. We’re just going to take it serious. It’s going to be a business trip for us, but hopefully after that we’re going to have fun.”
Adebayo says Kentucky coach John Calipari checks in periodically.
“Yeah, he calls us every so often,” he said. “He’s a busy guy so we don’t get mad when he’s like, ‘Yo, I’ll call y’all back’ or something like that but he calls us from time to time.”
On top of teasing each other, the Kentucky guys are also working on uncommitted 6-10 DeSoto (TX) big man Marques Bolden, who’s down to Kentucky and Duke and said he could pop at any time.
“Yeah, we’re trying to recruit,” Adebayo said. “We usually leave it to Coach Cal but we put our little two cents in sometimes. We don’t really tease him about it. We say ‘Come to UK, get No. 9, be a happy family,’ but other than that we don’t really bother him.”
Well, Fox might a little.
Bolden said the point guard joked that he might have to break his legs if he doesn’t pick Kentucky.
As for how Bolden might fit into an already loaded Kentucky frontcourt — which should be a significant upgrade over this past season — Adebayo would welcome the addition.
“He’s a big strong guy, he can make shots, he can defend,” he said. “He can block shots and he can run the floor.”
Adebayo figures to have a prominent role in a deep frontcourt alongside Gabriel and Sacha Killeya-Jones and returning bigs Isaac Humphries, Tai Wynyard, Derek Willis and potentially Marcus Lee.
“Oh man, I just bring a motor,” he said. “I like to play hard and have fun, I smile a lot. It’s one of those things that I take serious but also I have fun with.”
Adebayo’s high school coach Brandon Clifford told SNY.tv in December that Adebayo could potentially be the No. 1 pick in the 2017 NBA Draft. He’s currently slotted at No. 8 by DraftExpress.com.
“I mean, it’s going to be a very strong draft next year,” Jones said. “I think there’s a lot of options depending upon the kind of freshmen year a lot of guys have and the other guys that are returning, but I don’t think that really matters. He’s going to be one of the best players in college basketball next year.”
NYou don’t have to look far at the Jordan Brand Classic to find a player, coach or NBA scout praising incoming Kentucky big man Bam Adebayo.
