Following a disappointing and injury shortened season this year at the University of Arizona, sophomore wing Rawle Alkins is taking the next step in his career as he has declared for the 2018 NBA Draft.
After taking part in an underwhelming and bizarre sophomore season at the University of Arizona this year, guard Rawle Alkins officially declared for the 2018 NBA Draft close to two weeks after the Wildcats were upset by the University of Buffalo in the first round of this year’s NCAA Tournament.
Alkins’ individual season didn’t get off on the greatest start as he missed the start of the season after fracturing a bone in his right foot at the end of last September.
Returning back to the court nearly a month into the year, Alkins noticeably didn’t play up to the standard he displayed throughout his freshman season, one that ended in him being named to the Pac-12 All-Freshman Team.
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Of course, that was to be expected after suffering the kind of injury Alkins was struck with before the season and he dealt with soreness issues for games here and there after returning back to action.
Now after going through the various ups and downs he faced with the Wildcats this season and after testing the waters during last year’s draft process, Alkins has his sights set on the NBA level.
When talking to Bryan Kalbrosky of Hoops Hype about why he’s stuck to that decision at this year’s NBA Draft Combine, Alkins came to the conclusion that he felt the time was now to make the jump:
"“As soon as our season ended, I had some time to think about whether or not I should declare. But I always knew that after last season, I felt like I was ready. I think I am one of the only players who tested the waters at the combine last year that’s back this season. I went through the process and spoke to my college coach and ended up coming back to school. I went back strictly with a winning mentality. I wanted to win the championship and our season ended short. I still feel like, with everything we went through, all the adversity, we still had a successful season. We won the Pac-12 and we won a lot of games that people counted us out for.”"
So without further ado, let’s dive deep into both the good and bad of Rawle Alkins’ game, see how draft experts rate him at this point in the process and examine his potential fit with the Milwaukee Bucks.