Gophers’ Daniel Oturu to the NBA? There’s buzz, skeptics … and half a season still to play – Grand Forks Herald

Oturu has seen his name and the lofty number next to it: NBAdraft.net’s 2020 mock draft forecasts Oturu as the 10th overall pick, going to the Sacramento Kings.

“I could tell him to ignore draft boards, but he knows,” Pitino said Wednesday, Jan. 8. “… He knows that teams reach out to me; I tell him. The biggest thing I want is, I want transparency between both of us about the process.”

Here comes the seat belt …

“But we also have to understand they don’t draft in early January, just like they don’t name the Big Ten champ and they don’t pick the NCAA tournament and so on,” Pitino cautioned.

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There’s also this context: ESPN, Sports Illustrated, CBS and Bleacher Report don’t list Oturu, a 6-foot-10. 240-pound sophomore from Cretin-Derham Hall, among their projected lottery picks, nor even in their first round for next June’s draft.

To Pitino’s point, there is still too much to play for in the short term. That restarts when unranked Minnesota (8-6, 2-2) plays at No. 8 Michigan State (12-3, 4-0) at 8 p.m. Thursday.

With the adage that scouts look at how players perform against the best in big games, Oturu will face Spartans junior big man Xavier Tillman, a more routine NBA draft prospect. They will square off at the imposing Breslin Center in East Lansing, Mich.

Oturu is tied for seventh in the nation and is first in the Big Ten with nine double-doubles in 14 games this season, including 19 points, 16 rebounds and a career-high-tying five blocks in Sunday’s 77-68 home victory over Northwestern.

As his stats have increased, Oturu has received more attention this season, including the conference player of the week honor. He is averaging nearly nine more points (19.1) and more than five more rebounds (12.4) than last season. He has 44 blocks in 14 games this season, which nearly matches the 46 swats he had in 35 games a year ago.

And Oturu has done that without the front-court help he received from dominance post presence Jordan Murphy last year.

But the Gophers’ receptiveness to crumbs of NBA draft speculation is because the program has been so starved. Minnesota hasn’t had an NBA draft pick since Kris Humphries went to the Utah Jazz in 2004.

Murphy and Amir Coffey weren’t drafted in 2019, but Murphy is averaging 9.9 points and 6.6 rebounds with the Iowa Wolves of the G-League, and Coffey, after time with their G-League affiliate, debuted for the Los Angeles Clippers on Dec. 31.

“People have to understand we did not have an NBA player since Kris Humphries and now Amir is getting a chance in the NBA, which is great,” Pitino said. “Daniel will get his chance at some point. Murphy is close.”

In Coffey’s second game, the Hopkins native had five points and an assist in five minutes of playing time in a blowout loss to Memphis on Saturday.

“I texted him right away, like, ‘Hey, man, send us a jersey. We need it on the wall,’ ” Pitino said. “… That is too long to not have guys in the NBA. Not only do you sell it in recruiting but you want your (current players) to feel that. That is the carrot that you dangle in front of them to motivate them, which we all have (done). That why they get in this game. They all want to play in the NBA. They want that opportunity.”

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