One-handed cross-court whip passes in transition, behind the back drop-offs to a trail man in the lane, sidearm swings zipped from the top of the key to a big man in the post for easy yams. 

Yeah, Ja Morant has every pass in the bag at his disposal.

Murray State's indelible star showed off his versatility as a passer in two collegiate seasons capped with an accomplishment fit for such a rare talent: by leading the NCAA in assists and assist rate as a sophomore in 2018-19. By setting up teammates for success at a regular rate, the Racers finished last season shooting 49.2 percent from the floor, ninth-best in the NCAA.

Morant dominated the Ohio Valley Conference en route to winning Player of the Year honors in the conference. Naysayers may question the level of competition, to which I'll add this stat:

  • 27.0 PPG, 8.0 APG

Those are his averages last season in four games against Power 5 programs, all competition that rated out inside the top-64 of KenPom's final rankings. That scoring rate would have put him No. 3 among all Division I players last season, and that assist average still would have been good enough to have him leading the country.

And it's not just Morant's passing that makes him pop as a prodigious prospect. He can jump. Like, really, really jump. His athleticism showed up against every level of competition and translated to one of the most enjoyable highlight reels of any prospect in this draft class. From highlight reel dunks, to weakside blocks, to chasedown swats, Morant's blessed with box springs for feet and a killer mentality to boot.

He wants to flat out embarrass you, and more often than not, he's set out on that mission and produced successful results.

That Morant was an unranked recruit in the 2017 class only speaks to his meteoric rise and strong work ethic. He has long flashed physical tools that piqued the interest of college coaches, but Thursday when Adam Silver steps to the podium to call out Zion Williamson's name, Morant won't have to wait long to hear his name called.

Those flashes that got him looks at the college level developed in time to flash booms in college, slowly but surely putting it all together to become one of the can't-miss prospects of the 2019 NBA draft class.