Jock Landale, Kendrick Nunn, and other un-drafted mid-major alumni sign pro contracts

Not even 12 hours after the 2018 NBA Draft wrapped up, Jock Landale, Kendrick Nunn, and a host of other mid-major alumni have agreed to professional contracts. The next stop for them will be Summer League, where they will each have a chance to fight their way onto an NBA roster next season or earn a spot in the G-League.

There will certainly be more news in the coming days, but here are the players whose fates we know so far:

Jaylen Adams, St. Bonaventure

The Hawks are stockpiling guards for their summer league team. It’s going to be great. First, they drafted Trae Young last night. Then they signed Junior Robinson (more on him below). Now they add Adams, the Atlantic 10 co-Player of the Year, who averaged 20.5 points per game and was third in the conference in assists per game with 5.2. Remember when he had back-to-back 40-point games against Duquesne and Saint Louis this year? Can’t wait to see this guy in the pros.

---

Jacobi Boykins, Louisiana Tech

The important stuff about Boykins first: He’s really good. He averaged 14.7 points and 4.8 rebounds per game last year for a top-150 team. At 6’6, he has size for his position. Got it? Good.

On to more important things. Boykins is the one who, if you remember, was ejected from a game after two of the most comically inexcusable technical foul calls you will ever see. Here was his first technical:

And the second:

No, not a single thing happened in either sequence that warranted a technical. This has nothing to do with his pro prospects, I just needed to vent again.

---

Dikembe Dixson, UIC

Dixson has never lacked confidence and that will make him a fun prospect to watch this summer. And if he cracks an NBA roster, watch out. He was the mid-major version of Joel Embiid on Twitter, and we were here for it . Tell me you don’t want this guy on your team:

Coming back from injury, Dixson averaged 14 a game for the Flames and played between 38 and 40 minutes virtually every night.

---

Nana Foulland, Bucknell

Foulland put up great numbers at Bucknell and is worth a look, though at just 6’9, he doesn’t have the size to play center in the NBA. His draw? Efficient rebounding numbers, some scoring chops, and the ability to block shots. He was an all-Patriot League first-teamer along with teammate Zach Thomas. We’re still awaiting word on him.

---

Brandon Goodwin, Florida Gulf Coast

We try not to play favorites here at Mid-Major Madness, but it was hard not to love Goodwin during his time at Dunk City. At 6’2, Goodwin is quick as hell and scores in bunches. He’s overcome a ton of adversity — albeit a lot of it self-inflicted, stupid mistakes from his middle and high school days — to become at ASUN legend who led his team to the 2017 NCAA Tournament and an NIT bid in 2018.

---

Jordan Howard, Central Arkansas

Something about the Warriors and getting guys who can score at will. Howard was third in the nation in scoring last year at 25.1 points per game, and he did so by shooting a touch under 40 percent from three and 92 percent from the line. He’s also the all-time Southland leader in three-pointers made. With a ton of guys ahead of him, it’ll be tough for the 5’11 Howard to actually crack the roster, but this is the first step.

---

Donte Ingram, Loyola University Chicago

As a general rule, you’re going to get some looks if you stand out on a mid-major team that makes a Final Four run. But even after the magic of March wore off, Ingram impressed NBA scouts. He worked out for 10 NBA teams during the pre-Draft process, and according to the Loyola Phoenix, he could have been a surprise Second Round pick. Ingram leaves college as a second-team all-Missouri Valley selection, a member of the NCAA Tournament’s all-South Region team, oh, and as part of one of the most memorable Final Four runs in history. Here’s his buzzer-beater against Miami, because you need to watch it again:

---

Nick King, Middle Tennessee

Nick King traveled well in his college career, and he was finally rewarded in 2017-18 with a stellar season. It took a few tries for the former top-100 recruit to find somewhere he could shine, but that’s what he did as a senior for the Blue Raiders, averaging 21-and-eight for a team that was near the top of Conference USA all season.

---

Jock Landale, Saint Mary’s

Landale averaged better than 20 points per game and led the West Coast Conference in defensive rebounding percentage and true shooting percentage. He was named WCC Player of the Year and placed fourth on KenPom’s National Player of the Year list. Most importantly, Landale was the Mid-Major Madness Player of the Year. Our own Kyle Cajero summed up why:

For the most part, defenses couldn’t find a surefire way to completely contain Landale; if he was shut down as a scorer, then he’d be attacking the glass. If opponents doubled Landale, then he’d find the open man. Even his “down” games — a 5-of-11 performance against Pacific, or merely six points at Portland — were impressive. That 45.5 FG% outing against the Tigers? Landale posted 13 points and 17 rebounds. The Gaels won by 17 in Portland with a 6-and-10 from Landale and a game-high 11 boards.

---

Brandon McCoy, UNLV

We were a little surprised that McCoy didn’t hear his name called on Thursday, but he’ll get his shot after all, and it’s well deserved. Watching the one-and-done center at UNLV last year was, at times, like watching a man among children. He was a high-major recruit who chose to go the mid-major route, and in doing so, he helped lead the Rebels to a nine-win improvement from 2016-17. He averaged a double-double (16.9 points, 10.3 rebounds) in his only collegiate season and was named conference Freshman of the Year. He stood out the most in UNLV’s overtime loss to eventual 4 seed Arizona, when he scored 33 points and had 10 rebounds going up against top-pick DeAndre Ayton.

---

Kendrick Nunn, Oakland

Oakland wasn’t all that great last year, but Nunn certainly was. As a senior transfer from Illinois, Nunn was the nation’s second-leading scorer (25.9 points per game) behind only Trae Young and made the second-most threes of anybody in the country. He scored 30-or-more points 11 times in 2017-18, including a stretch of three straight games early in conference play. With Golden State, Nunn will be a bucket-getter on a team of bucket-getters. For more on Nunn, check out Ridiculous Upside, which had a great scouting report on him.

---

Giddy Potts, Middle Tennessee

The Giddy Potts Revolution heads north of the border! Giddy became an NCAA Tournament hero in 2016, leading Middle Tennessee to one of the greatest upsets in tournament history, and followed that up with two more excellent seasons. Though he never quite matched his ridiculous three-point shooting season from 2016, he still shot 40 percent from deep this year to go with 85 percent from the line. He’s small, standing at just 6’2, but is also fearless. There’s no shot too deep and there’s no miss that he won’t try to corral.

---

Junior Robinson, Mount St. Mary’s

It’s time for the Under-Six-Foot Club (I’m the president) to make some noise in the NBA. The 5’5 Robinson is small but bouncy as hell. To prove it, here’s a video of him dunking. Again, he’s 5’5. That’s shorter than me. Probably shorter than you too.

---

Andre Spight, Northern Colorado

Spight’s numbers alone are enough for him to warrant a look from a pro team. You see his per-game numbers above, but also know that he broke Northern Colorado’s and the Big Sky’s single-season scoring record with 855 points in his only season. Spight originally committed to UTEP, then went the JuCo route after some academic problems. He was a solid contributor at Arizona State in 2015-16, then sat out a year before playing for the Bears. He did enough to earn a pre-draft workout from the Nuggets, who seemed to like what they saw.

---

Jonathan Stark, Murray State

Congrats to the Timberwolves on signing an Official Cam Newton Favorite! The Racers returned to the NCAA Tournament this season behind Stark’s prolific scoring numbers: 21.4 points per game, 89 percent from the line, and 40 percent shooting from three. The OVC Player of the Year ranked second in the conference in percentage of shots taken, usage percentage, and offensive rating, meaning there were few players in the country as important to their team as Stark was to Murray State. I just wish we could have seen him play more than one game in March.

---

Kendall Stephens, Nevada

Listen, Eric Musselman couldn’t bring EVERYBODY back this year. The Magic will be getting a player who broke the single-season Mountain West record for three-pointers made and led the league in free throw percentage (94.7) and turnover rate (7.9). He made five-or-more threes 13 times last season. That’s ridiculous. He even hit seven in a game on three separate occasions, all in conference.

---

Jared Terrell, Rhode Island

Yeah.

---

Justin Tillman, VCU

The first-team all-Atlantic 10 selection nearly averaged a double-double with 18.9 points and 9.9 rebounds per game last year. In fact, his 18 double-doubles were the most in a season by a VCU player in more than two decades. Tillman has worked the last couple years to develop a better perimeter game, and while it is still a work in progress, he is getting better. As Greg points out here, he went from attempting just three threes from his freshman to junior years to shooting 33 percent on 82 attempts last year. Not great, but it’s something.

---

Yuta Watanabe, George Washington

The senior out of the Atlantic 10 was one of those guys who improved every year that he was in college. By 2018, he was averaging 16.3 points per game to go with 6.1 rebounds and an 81 percent rate from the line. At 6’9, Watanabe has the size to play on the wing, where his shot is still improving (36 percent from three last season). In college, he was also among the conference leaders in block percentage at 4.7. He was the Atlantic 10 defensive player of the year, and if he makes the Nets’ roster (or someone else’s), he will become just the second Japan native in NBA history.

---

Thomas Wilder, Western Michigan

Wilder is another fun point guard getting a look at Summer League. He was Western Michigan’s leading scorer (18.8 per game) and assist man (4.3) who started every game he played from his sophomore through his senior season. Wilder ranked in the top 10 in the MAC in both assist rate and steal percentage.

---

Johnathan Williams, Gonzaga

Williams is a reliable, though undersized big man who helped lead Gonzaga to the national championship game in 2017 and back to the Sweet 16 in 2018. His efforts earned him a number of workouts for NBA teams, and though he was never projected to be selected in the NBA Draft, he was always a safe bet to make a summer squad. Here’s a scouting report he gave of himself in a recent story from the Spokesman:

“I’m an energy guy, finish around the basket, can switch on ball screens and use my feet on the perimeter. I’m showing more leadership skills and being active in all my workouts.
“When I think about it, when I make the NBA, I’m not going to be the first option. It’s other ways to make an impact – defense, rebounding, making a corner 3.”

“When” he makes the NBA. Not if.