NBA Draft hopefuls with ties to Hoosier state visit Pacers
INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — Three familiar names paid the Pacers a visit Monday.
Trevon Bluiett, Vince Edwards and Bryce Alford are all eyeing an NBA paycheck this spring and if those checks end up coming from a bank in Indiana, that’s even better.
“Just to be kind of a hometown hero, playing for my state in front of all my friends and family, that would be great,” Bluiett said. “I would love to play here.”
“I’m an Indiana boy and it’s tough to beat that being at this place,” Alford said. ” When you have Indiana blood on you, the fans kind of rally around that. I know I would love to be here.”
The NBA draft is June 22 and this Wednesday a big decision looms for the former Park Tudor star Bluiett and Purdue’s talented wing Edwards. Both players must decide whether to head back to college or officially drop their eligibility and head to the NBA. The word around Indianapolis on Monday is that the jury is still out.
“I haven’t really slept easy at all lately,” Edwards said. “I have just been taking it along slowly, talking with my parents and I had a great talk with Coach Painter yesterday.”
“If you go into the draft I don’t think you want to have any type of low confidence,” Bluiett said. “Any decision you make you want to make sure you have high confidence. If I do decide to stay in the draft I feel like I would have a good chance of being in the second round.”
Of these three prospects working out with the Pacers on Monday, Bluiett brings the highest stock to the 2017 NBA draft. The three-time IHSAA state basketball champion turned Xavier star scored over 18 points per game last season, good for the second best mark in the Big East.
“I just am making sure I am comfortable with my decision over the next two days. I just want to see the next 48 hours play out like I want them to.”
After four seasons at UCLA, the Alford connection is officially in the books. Now we will wait to see if Bluiett and Edwards also close the book on college.