Tosan At The Combine

Princeton head men's basketball coach Mitch Henderson will be throwing out the first pitch at the New York Yankees game a week from today against the Baltimore Orioles.

By the way, did you know the Orioles have the second-best record in Major League Baseball, behind only the Tampa Bay Rays? Also, did you realize that Texas is leading the American League West by four games now? And who is the team's general manager? 

Of course it's Chris Young, the former Princeton men's basketball and baseball player. Young spent 13 seasons as a pitcher in the Major Leagues, so clearly he made a good choice for his professional sport. It's just that TigerBlog and every other Princeton fan will always wonder what might have been had Young stayed with basketball, both for his final two years at Princeton that he lost when he signed his pro baseball contract and then for the NBA.

Speaking of pro basketball, there were 44 players who were invited to the NBA's G-League Combine, held in Chicago over the weekend. 

Out of that group, there were eight who then earned a second invitation to stay around for another week and participate in the NBA's Combine. That's eight of 44, or an 18 percent chance of being among the eight.

As you probably know by now, Princeton's Tosan Evbuomwan is one of them. Judging by the math, it's another great performance by Evbuomwan in the last few months.

The NBA Combine began Monday and runs through Sunday, also in Chicago. There were 78 original invitees, before the eight who were promoted from the G League event. 

You can watch some of the Combine and some of the games there on ESPN2 or ESPN+.

If you're a Princeton fan, you already knew what kind of player Evbuomwan is. He's been a dominant presence for the Tigers, earning Ivy League Player of the Year honors as a junior and then being a unanimous first-team All-Ivy pick as a senior. 

The Ivy Player of the Year this past season, by the way, was Penn's Jordan Dingle, who has since transferred to St. John's, where he will play for Rick Pitino. Dingle averaged 23.4 points per game last year, second in Division I behind Detroit Mercy's Antoine Brown, who finished his career (five years) two points away from Pete Maravich's all-time NCAA scoring record. Maravich only played three years, with no three-point shot, and there will never, ever, ever be another scorer in college basketball like Maravich.

Dingle is going to St. John's to increase his chances of being drafted a year from now. For Evbuomwan, this year is the year to see where he stands in the NBA Draft, which comes up June 22nd.

It was a magical run for Princeton and Evbuomwan this past winter. The Tigers shared the Ivy League title with Yale and then beat the Bulldogs in the Ivy tournament final to get to the NCAA tournament.

Once there, Princeton knocked out second-seeded Arizona and seventh-seeded Missouri to reach the Sweet 16. The run ended against Creighton, but Princeton men's basketball carved itself a never-to-be-forgotten moment in the history of a program that is filled with them.

Of all the players who emerged during the NCAA tournament, perhaps none made the mark that Evbuomwan did. His all-around game, the one that he showcased in Jadwin Gym game after game, really stood out. He showed he could play the point, he could defend a range of players, he could create his own shot, he could rebound, he could block shots and he could also hit a three-pointer. 

He could have used his final year of eligibility as a grad transfer, but he chose to go into the NBA Draft process instead. He is a fascinating prospect.

For one thing, he is from England, so playing in Europe would be in many ways going home. Second, he hasn't really played for very long, so he has considerable upside. His task this week is to show how athletic he is compared to top prospects, something he clearly did at the G League Combine. 

TigerBlog has been checking out mock drafts, and Evbuomwan's ame has appeared in almost all of them. In fact, he usually shows up in the 47-49 range.

What can a pick in the second round expect? He can expect a legitimate shot at making the NBA team, and he could almost surely expect a two-way contract that would pay him a different amount if he played in the NBA or the G-League. 

Or, of course, he could play in the Europe for a few years and build his game there. Either way, these are exciting times for Evbuomwan, and for the Princeton program, which in a very short amount of time will have shown it could get to the Sweet 16, send one player to the NBA (Devin Cannady) and now have another on the verge of joining the league.