NY Knicks: 1 draft prospect from each Final Four team
4: Collin Gillespie – Villanova Wildcats
Collin Gillespie is a fifth-year senior out of Villanova and it’s about time that he’s making his way to the draft. Although he’s clearly a bit of a late bloomer, he’s also one of the more decorated collegiate athletes of all time.
He has three Big East Championships and a national title at Villanova, so the guy knows what it takes to consistently win big games.
As it stands, he’s projected to go in the 45th to the undrafted range. I think whoever gets their hands on him will have a steal because Gillespie possesses the primary skill that you need to have to guarantee yourself a spot on an NBA roster; shooting.
He’s a good facilitator and defender, but that can only get you so far. He’s also considered an energy, glue guy, but again, that’s not going to be enough to help you get minutes in the NBA.
Gillespie has improved as a shooter every year and is finishing off his time at Villanova shooting 41% from deep on over seven attempts per game. We’ve seen guys make entire careers off of just being able to shoot the ball well and Gillespie may very well be the next one to do so.
He’ll be 23-years-old at the time of the draft, so that’s a bit of a concern for me. If you’re going to gamble and take older players, you generally want to do it earlier in the draft because you’re guaranteed to have a higher floor for the chosen player. Generally speaking, the later it gets, the more you want to look for upside and ceiling.
Gillespie also doesn’t have that ‘wow’ factor in any specific category outside of his shooting. However, considering how desperate the Knicks are for solid point guard play, they could do a whole lot worse than Gillespie.
