Markelle Fultz wasn’t able to turn the Huskies into a respectable team.
Unlike most people, I have some minor concern about the fact that Markelle Fultz played on a bad Washington Huskies team that went 9-22 (and 2-16 in the Pac 10). However, it’s for a different reason than you’d think.
Obviously, one player is not going to be able to turn a bad team into a title contender, especially as a freshman. We tend to look at players like Markelle Fultz or Lonzo Ball or De’Aaron Fox as the “Best Players in College,” but they’re actually not. They’re the “Best Prospects in College.” The actual best college players tend to be seniors like Kansas G Frank Mason. They’re much older, much more experienced, and lead to more wins in that year. With few exceptions (super loaded Kentucky and Duke teams), the college title tends to come down to experienced teams with upperclassmen leaders. Those amazing freshman can have a big impact, but not as much as we want them to during that first year.
So no, I don’t think it’s a concern that Markelle Fultz’s stats and skills didn’t translate to wins right away. His talent shined through despite all those losses, and he showed himself to be a legitimate super prospect. But what concerns me is that Fultz WENT to Washington in the first place.
I can understand why a blue-chipper like Fultz would not want to follow the trend like a lemming and go to Kentucky or Duke like everyone else. However, like Ben Simmons, he went to a clearly bad team that wasn’t going to have any legitimate shot to make the Final Four.
Why?
I would love the idea if Fultz happened to be a local who wanted to make his hometown proud. When Jabari Parker was a hot prospect, he was allegedly considering smaller schools like BYU (because he’s Mormon) and DePaul (because he’s from Chicago). Jabari Parker going to place like that and trying to make them a winner would have been justified and fascinating and downright admirable.
That’s not the case with Fultz. Fultz is from Washington — but not Washington state. He’s from Washington, D.C..
Apparently, he had a good relationship with Lorenzo Romar and especially Romar’s assistants. That explains it… some. Of course, if I’m the NCAA, I’d be awfully curious how Romar can keep losing games and continue to draw in super prospects, but that’s a story for another day.
Fultz’s season at Washington reminds me of Ben Simmons’ season at LSU — again, not because their stats didn’t translate into wins, but because they even went there in the first place. Was it a cozy ($) relationship with the staff? Or was it because these players wanted to make sure they could be the ball-dominant, stat-stuffing superstars that the NBA would gravitate to? Even at the expense of winning?
Compare that to my favorite prospect in the draft, Kansas’ Josh Jackson. He went to a program with a senior star in Frank Mason, and another veteran junior in Devonte’ Graham, knowing full well that his raw stats would suffer. However, he’d have a chance to play for a great coach and a great chance to win a title. “Winning” was clearly a priority to him. As long as you’re treating the concept of college as a one-year excursion, you may as well make it count.
I’m not saying that I know why Fultz didn’t make that same choice — all I’m saying is that I’m not sure. It’s not a deal breaker — it’s not a reason to avoid him — it’s just a little odd. It’s something for the Celtics to look into and consider when they make this crucial decision. Chances are, they will and should take Fultz, but I’d want to ask him that question first.
