It's not often that a four-year player declaring for the draft is news, but it's not often that that player experiences the growth that Ohio State forward Keita Bates-Diop did either. Bates-Diop went from averaging less than 10 minutes per game as a freshman to playing 33 per game as a redshirt junior.
Now, the Big Ten Conference Player of the Year will be heading to the pros, per ESPN.
Bates-Diop was a leader on an Ohio State team that pulled a 25-9 overall record, not to mention 15-3 in the conference. It was in the driver's seat for the Big 10 regular season title most of the season, but late-season stumbles against Penn State and Michigan allowed Michigan State to overtake the Buckeyes. Bates-Diop averaged 19.8 points and 8.7 rebounds per game, both career-highs by far.
Where Bates-Diop really turned it up, however, was in the tournament. The team didn't make it out of Boise in the opening weekend, losing to No. 4 Gonzaga as a No. 5 seed in the second round, but Bates-Diop played fantastic. He averaged 26 points over the course of the two games, averaging 7.5 rebounds.
CBS Sports' Reid Forgrave has Bates-Diop going to the Jazz at No. 21 in this year's draft. Forgrave mentions Bates-Diop's ability as a wing, something that this draft sorely lacks. He shot 35.9 percent on 3-pointers this season, which will be a facet of his game that he could work on. However, as it stands, at 6-foot-7 and 235 pounds and with a 7-foot-plus wingspan, Bates-Diop possesses the length to be effective. After an excellent final year, he'll need to prove that it wasn't a fluke at the NBA level.
