Aaron Gordon is Arizona’s leading rebounder. Photo by Casey Sapio-USA TODAY Sports
This shouldn’t come as a shock, but Arizona Wildcats freshman Aaron Gordon is likely headed to the NBA after this season.
The new twist on this is that the prediction comes from a reliable source — his mother.
Shelly Davis talked to Tom FitzGerald for a story in the San Francisco Chronicle in advance of Arizona’s game at Stanford.
“You never know how that’s going to play out until the end of the season,” Davis said of Aaron being a one-and-done player.
“If everything goes as planned, he most likely will enter the draft. We’re OK with that. You only have so many jumps in your legs. You have to pursue it when you can.”
She did add that Aaron eventually wants to be a college coach. “And to be a college coach, you have to have a degree.”
Gordon, who attended Archbishop Mitty in San Jose, Calif., is projected as the seventh overall pick in the latest 2014 mock draft by DraftExpress.com.
Jason King of BleacherReport.com talked to a trio of NBA scouts for a story on college prospects, including Gordon. Here is what a scout said about Gordon:
“What’s the one thing he does really well? I’m not sure I know. He’s a better athlete than he is a basketball player. He can really defend, and he can defend multiple positions, which will help him. But is he a 3 (small forward) or a 4 (power forward)? Does he shoot it really great? Not really. I don’t think he’s a top-10 pick. He may go in the Top 10, but that’d just be a case of someone betting on upside. Right now he’s a good college player. Not a great one, but a good one. Because of his size and athleticism, he may come around, but right now he’s a gamble.”
Gordon, who is averaging 12.3 points and 7.8 rebounds — but shooting just 45.3 percent from the free throw line — talked at Arizona’s local Media Day in late September about his thoughts on being a one-and-done player.
“I’ve been entertaining that thought since I was a little kid,” he said. “But when I’m here now, I focus on every day, focus on the process. It doesn’t really matter how many years I’m here — focus on getting better, getting wins, getting a national title. Everything else will come into play. I’m not worried about that at all.”