All the hype around college basketball this season has centered on Zion Williamson, the pituitary hoops phenom who’s turned into one of the most talked about NBA prospects in more than a decade. But after Williamson injured his knee last week when one of the Nike sneakers he was wearing disintegrated as he tried to make a move to the basket, it’s possible we may have already seen the last moments of his now-abridged college career.
While Williamson has dominated the conversation, another less-heralded prospect from a modest state school has skyrocketed up the leaderboard for this summer’s NBA draft. Ja Morant of Murray State has taken the NBA Draft pundits by storm in his sophomore season, and Friday night, added to his steadily-growing legend.
In the Ohio Valley Conference semifinals against Jacksonville St., Morant sank what ended up being the game-sealing turnaround in the lane to send his team to the conference finals.
bballsociety_: Ja Morant bucket ESPN U Ohio Valley Basketball Tournament: A semifinal https://t.co/Z2lOpF0cF7 pic.twitter.com/cqdrujXnew
— FanSportsClips (@FanSportsClips) March 9, 2019
Scores of scouts and executives, including Magic Johnson and Suns owner Robert Sarver, were on-hand on Friday night to see Morant, and he didn’t disappoint as he finished with 29 points, eight assists, and five rebounds in Murray State’s 78-74 win. They’ll now face Belmont in the conference championship game on Saturday, although a win won’t necessarily guarantee them a trip to the NCAA tournament.
