KU coach Bill Self says Gradey Dick is liked ‘throughout the lottery’ ahead of NBA draft
LAWRENCE — When Kansas basketball coach Bill Self watched Gradey Dick play in high school, he didn’t envision the guard to be a one-and-done talent.
Self thought Dick would one day be a NBA player, sure, due to his ability to hit shots and didn’t lack size. But Self still thought it would take two years of college basketball for Dick to make the jump to the professional ranks.
Then came Dick’s performance in the Jayhawks’ win this past season against Duke during the Champions Classic in Indianapolis. Then came the realization around the Kansas program that Dick was going to be good enough to put his name in the draft in 2023. And ahead of the draft Thursday, Self provided some perspective Tuesday on the kind of night the standout guard is in for.
“I’m not going to make any bold predictions,” Self said, “but it’s been very positive that people like Gradey a lot — and they like him all throughout the lottery, not just at the end of it.”
Self cautioned that there are still a lot of unknowns about what could happen on draft night. He highlighted the possibility of trades that could shift the landscape of what’s expected. But that doesn’t take away from the reviews he’s heard about Dick.
Dick averaged more than 30 minutes per game across his 36 starts as a freshman, for a team that won a Big 12 Conference regular season title and earned a No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament. He was the Jayhawks’ second-leading scorer and their most prolific 3-point shooting threat. It didn’t take him long to prove himself at the college level.
At the professional level, it may take Dick time to develop as a defender. But he’ll remain a sought-after talent due to being arguably the best shooter in this year’s NBA draft.
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Jordan Guskey covers University of Kansas Athletics at The Topeka Capital-Journal. He is the National Sports Media Association’s sportswriter of the year for the state of Kansas for 2022. Contact him at jmguskey@gannett.com or on Twitter at @JordanGuskey.
This article originally appeared on Topeka Capital-Journal: KU coach Bill Self says Gradey Dick is liked ‘throughout the lottery’
