What's wrong with the next wave of college basketball stars? 'Very few of them give effort'

The best basketball prospects in the recruiting class of 2018 have spent much of the past few weeks on the court, practicing and playing in front of the NBA scouts who swarmed postseason all-star events to get a look at the next wave of talent.

The reviews have not been kind.

NBA personnel that spoke to the Herald-Leader at McDonald’s All-American Game practices in Atlanta late last month were not overly enamored with the level of talent — and, perhaps more to the point, the level of effort — shown by the recruits who will be college freshmen next season.

Those NBA scouts followed the all-star circuit to the Jordan Brand Classic in Brooklyn the next weekend and the Nike Hoop Summit in Portland, Ore., the weekend after that. Things apparently didn’t get any better.

Right about the moment the buzzer sounded on USA Basketball’s 89-76 loss to the World Select Team at the Hoop Summit, the social media onslaught began.

“No fight whatsoever from this US group, who easily could have lost by 20,” tweeted ESPN analyst Jonathan Givony. “Embarrassing to see from guys wearing a USA Basketball uniform. Needs to be more of a premium put on competitors who aren't doing people a favor by simply showing up. Bad sign looking towards the 2019 draft.”

National recruiting analyst Andrew Slater, who also scouted all three events, responded to Givony’s tweet.

“The US would’ve benefited from the inclusion of competitors like Nas Little, Emmitt Williams & Devon Dotson,” he wrote. “A healthy Zion (Williamson) would’ve provided 1 alpha on the assembled American squad.”

Little (North Carolina), Williams (Louisiana State) and Dotson (Kansas) all impressed at previous all-star stops but were not part of the Hoop Summit team.

RJ Barrett — a native of Canada who has signed with Duke for next season — played for the World team at the Hoop Summit and drew praise for his hard-working game. 247Sports made Barrett the No. 1 player in its final rankings last week. Little, another prospect who played hard throughout McDonald’s week, finished in the No. 2 spot.

Rivals.com national recruiting analyst Eric Bossi also chimed in on the overall lack of effort, saying he wasn’t surprised by the Hoop Summit result.

“I’ve spent seven days watching the class of 2018 with NBA guys the past few weeks,” Bossi tweeted. “Their general feel is that many top players need to toughen up and compete. On them to change that opinion from here out.

“Something that stuck with me from a convo w/an NBA exec in Portland. Said he wanted to know which kids wanted to be great just to be great vs. which kids wanted to be great because of the fame/money it can bring.”

Yikes.

That’s not a great sign for the next season’s class of college freshmen, which will be following a group that included the likes of DeAndre Ayton and Marvin Bagley.

247Sports national recruiting analyst Evan Daniels, speaking to the Herald-Leader late last week about the 2018 class as a whole, indicated that his colleagues weren’t going too far with those comments. He’s noticed it, too.

“This is one of the least talented classes that I have covered,” Daniels said. “And when you throw in the fact that very few of them give effort or play hard, it accentuates that a great deal.”

Daniels, too, heard from NBA front-office types surprised by the lack of overall talent, and — again, the overwhelming lack of competitiveness — shown at these events.

Fans who watch recruiting showcases like the McDonald’s Game and Jordan Classic on television every year are probably thinking, “So what? These guys hardly ever play hard in those games.”

That’s often true. The all-star games themselves usually, and quickly, devolve into more highlight fest than basketball competition.

The practices leading up to those games, in past years, have been a different story.

In those settings, players have gone at each other. They’ve known there are dozens of NBA scouts watching — and comparing — them to their peers. They’ve played hard. They’ve played through the whistles. Almost all of them desire to be one-and-done players, think they’re good enough to do it, and know these settings are among the best to make a good early impression.

For some reason, with a few exceptions, the top-ranked prospects in the 2018 class didn’t play like that.

“It was the biggest complaint at McDonald’s, Jordan and Nike Hoop Summit,” Daniels said. “The most complaints I’ve ever heard from NBA executives about effort and motor and even being competitive at all. A number of guys brought it up to me, and, honestly, it wasn’t a surprise.

“But what is a surprise is when you have an opportunity to showcase your ability in front of the entire NBA, you’d think you’d at least play hard. But that wasn’t the case.”

Daniels, like other national recruiting analysts who have been tracking this group for years, said he’s noticed this trait with this particular class, but he doesn’t necessarily think it’s a trend with a younger generation of prospects that will extend to other classes in the near future.

The players at last year’s McDonald’s All-American practices battled like the players who came before them. The top recruits in the 2019 class include a number of players, who, so far, have embraced competition.

This 2018 class, though, has some growing up to do.

“I just think it’s brought more to our attention because it’s a mixture of the talent not being as good, plus they’re just not playing hard,” Daniels said. “And don’t get me wrong – there was still a handful of guys that competed. Like Nassir Little and R.J. Barrett and Keldon Johnson. But, top to bottom, it was a pretty poor effort.”

Johnson is headed to Kentucky next season, and there was no questioning his effort during McDonald’s week. He was asked after the first practice there if it was difficult to get others to play at his energy level in settings like that one. His answer backed up what the analysts would say and the scouts would see over the next few weeks.

“Definitely. You got a couple of people that just want to like chill and be satisfied that they’re here,” Johnson said frankly, before finishing off with a more diplomatic message. “I mean, most of the players on our team, they want to get after it, they want to have a good time, they want to compete.”

This story was originally published April 23, 2018 at 9:07 AM with the headline "What's wrong with the next wave of college basketball stars? 'Very few of them give effort'."