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Bradley 2021 commit- Malevy Leons

egib52 said:
This may end up being Wardle's biggest recruiting win thus far!!! Welcome to the Hilltop! Now let's get a 3 and D athletic wing.
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Holy crap - what a great get...and to complement his Dutch teammate, Mast!

Very excited by the recent recruits - hope they don't let us down!
Possibly the best class in the Wardle era.
 
Da Coach said:
Here is one more top award for Malevy Leons- he sweeps all the Player of the Year awards-
Today, Malevy Leons was named the NJCAA Player of the Year for Division I junior colleges-
https://www.njcaa.org/sports/mbkb/2020-21/releases/20210507h93j9i

https://twitter.com/NJCAABasketball/status/1390751653410840576

2020-21 Accomplishments
  • NJCAA Midwest District Champion
  • NABC Two-Year Player of the Year
  • NJCAA Player of the Year
  • NJCAA First Team All-American
  • Region 16 Player of the Year
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it seems every day he wins another National Player of the year award! This is a huge get for the staff! I can’t wrap my head around it! He’s a big time talent!
 
PhiAlphaBoy said:
Biggest pickup since Josh Cunningham.
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That's a good comparison. I would have loved to have seen what Wardle could have done with Cunningham. If the guy would have just stayed by the rim and stopped throwing up 3's, he woulda had 20 boards a game!
 
I think he is alot bigger than Josh Cunningham. "National Player of the Year" He might be the biggest pickup of a player since maybe Chet Walker. I know he has to prove himself in a Bradley uniform yet but in awards coming in. It would be like National High school player of the year. What does everybody else think?
 
bradleyfan124 said:
I think he is alot bigger than Josh Cunningham. "National Player of the Year" He might be the biggest pickup of a player since maybe Chet Walker. I know he has to prove himself in a Bradley uniform yet but in awards coming in. It would be like National High school player of the year. What does everybody else think?
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Well considering the national highschool player of the year is always a 5 star recruit and could go to the NBA if it was allowed straight from highschool, no he's not that good. Will he be really good? I very much hope, and think so but let's not go too far
 
Cousins Cuts podcast said:
Well considering the national high school player of the year is always a 5 star recruit and could go to the NBA if it was allowed straight from highschool, no he's not that good. Will he be really good? I very much hope, and think so but let's not go too far
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Since Malevy did not play high school basketball and only started playing basketball a few years ago, I'm not sure we can compare him to American high schoolers who have played year-round against good competition since they were very young.

But comparing him to last year's NABC Junior College Player of the Year and NJCAA Player of the Year seems fair.
Last Year's NABC and NJCAA POY was Jayden Scrubb of John A. Logan CC in Cartersville, Illinois. He committed to Louisville, but then chose to enter the 2020 NBA Draft and was picked in the 2nd round, 55th overall, and is currently under contract with the Los Angeles Clippers.
Here are the past NABC Players of the Year, and there are several that went on to play in the NBA (Jae Crowder, Cleanthony Early, Kadeem Allen, Jay Scrubb)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NABC_P...er_of_the_Year

I am not suggesting Leons will be an NBA player. We can hope he has a successful D1 career.
 
bradleyfan124 said:
I think he is alot bigger than Josh Cunningham. "National Player of the Year" He might be the biggest pickup of a player since maybe Chet Walker. I know he has to prove himself in a Bradley uniform yet but in awards coming in. It would be like National High school player of the year. What does everybody else think?
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I don’t think you get voted NABC Player of the year without having a huge upside. Seems like he has a high basketball IQ and obviously can shoot from the outside and rebound as well. Sounds like Coach Wardle is really excited about him also!
 
I'd rather have the high school POY because it's a much larger player pool but JUCO POY is still a very big deal.

And the 2019 JUCO POY was Chris Duarte of Oregon, who just won the Jerry West Award for nation's top shooting guard and is projected to go in the first round.
 
Mikovio said:
I'd rather have the high school POY because it's a much larger player pool but JUCO POY is still a very big deal.

And the 2019 JUCO POY was Chris Duarte of Oregon, who just won the Jerry West Award for nation's top shooting guard and is projected to go in the first round.
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And as I posted earlier, last year's NJCAA and NABC Player of the Year, Jayden Scrubb, went directly from juco to the NBA. He was a second round pick in the 2020 NBA Draft and is now under contract with the Los Angeles Clippers. And several other earlier POY's have played in the NBA. We can hope Malevy Leons gets there, too.

As far as I can find, there have been 6 previous NBA players from the Netherlands-
Name................... Pos....... Height.... Seasons In the NBA
Francisco Elson..... C/PF......7'0''.........2003 to 2012
Dan Gadzuric......... C ..........6'11''.......2002 to 2012
Geert Hammink...... C...........7'0''....... 1993 to 1996
Swen Nater............ C...........6'11''...... 1976 to 1984
Rik Smits............... C............7'4''....... 1988 to 2000
Hank Beenders......F.............6'6"....... 1947 to 1949 (played in Basketball Association of America (BAA), forerunner of the NBA)
 
Dang, he makes everything he throws up!

But seriously he does look dangerous from 3 and on the drive. Wonder if he will stay lean and mobile like he is of if they will try to add mass. Hope he’s got attitude and character to match his skills! Good looking player with 3 years in the hopper to boot.
 
Very impressed by his agility and ability to run the court. Doesn't seem to be much of a post-up player.
Has similarities to an Anthony Davis, which would be cool. :)
 
To me he seems like a Christan wood type player because he is skinny and athletic and able to shoot the 3. I hope he and reink fit together because that could be a scary frontcourt duo...
 
I'd take another Christian Wood. After a nice couple years at UNLV, and he's been in the NBA for 6 years. He's averaging 21.0 ppg and 9.6 rpg for the Houston Rockets this season.
I've tried thinking of a former MVC player who looked comparable, and the most recent I can think of was Cleanthony Early of Wichita State.
That may be unfair, since earley had a terrific career in his 2 seasons in the MVC. We can only hope Leons has similar success. Early lead their 2013-14 team to a 34-0 regular season. He was a 1st team All-MVC in 2013 & 2014, and an All-American in 2014.
 
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