At the end of last season, Ohio State power forward Kaleb Wesson flirted with leaving for the NBA early. He got some crucial feedback though that he has taken to heart that meant he needed to come back for another year to work on his game.
It’s apparent that he’s worked on his outside 3-point shooting, has slimmed down and in more shape, and looks to be more engaged and involved on the defensive end.
Nobody really knows what Wesson will do at the end of this year, but you have to figure he’s going to test the waters once again. He’s still got one more year in Columbus if he wants it, but the pull of the NBA will be hard to put off for a guy that has a skill set that could translate well to professional basketball.
On that note, Rookie Wire has published its 2020 NBA Mock Draft and has the OSU big man included. Wesson is already one of thirty finalists for the Naismith Award, was recognized in the preseason by several different watch lists, and is considered one of the best big men in a Big Ten conference full of quality post players.
So where does Rookie Wire have Wesson? He is listed as the websites No. 51 rated player, which would put him somewhere in the latter half of the second round.
Here’s what Bryan Kalbrosky says about the younger Wesson.
Ohio State junior Kaleb Wesson is averaging 14.0 points with 9.6 rebounds, adding one block per game. Perhaps most impressive: he has connected on 1.4 3-pointers per game while shooting 41.1% from beyond the arc. He can be a viable pick-and-pop option for an NBA team down the road.
If this does hold true and he’s tagged for a late second-round pick, it might be in Wesson’s best interest to come back for another year of seasoning. Those potential professional basketball dollars NBA or otherwise are sure hard to pass up though.
We’ll have to see how it all pans out. For now though, he and Ohio State has some business to attend to. There are two regular-season Big Ten games left, the Big Ten Tournament, and hopefully a run in the NCAA Tournament.
