still left the opportunity to return to Williamsburg.

Wishing the best for him, think he’s ultimately a early-mid second rounder in the weaker class this year. Would have assumed under the old staff he would come back and try and get a first round guarantee next year. But now hard to see the way back if he can get a guarantee of being picked. Too high a chance of a bad year here that throws him off the draft radars.

Just said the same thing lol

Interesting that he name dropped Holmes...but no mention of Tony by name. Thinking maybe Nate was not Shaver’s biggest fan???

Right move for him to test the waters. I think if we get a coach (and staff) who can develop a big man, there’s a high likelihood he returns. That’s assuming of course he doesn’t find out that he’s a first-rounder this year, which I don’t think he is.

I hope the best for him. Exciting to see a W&M basketball player declare for the NBA draft! Outside the drama/mess of the last few weeks, let’s just enjoy that we have (had) someone this good. That’s a positive mark on our program.


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As he should. I kinda doubt this is related to Shaver, we'd been talking about this as a real possibility all year. I'd also say it's decently likely he comes back

I won't be surprised if he's a first round pick. His skill set is very unique. I could see him as a Chris Bosch type at the next level. I've watched him shoot from NBA 3 point range in practice (during shooting drills) and he is a much better shooter than his stats reflect. His passing is much more advanced than most big men and he can run the floor. My only negative is foot work and that can be taught.

I also won't be surprised if he's to the wind regardless. He's going to make a lot of money somewhere playing this sport. I have a good friend who had a son play at Illinois a while back. 6'9" power forward with much less true skill as Nate. He played in Europe for years making between 150-250 in US Dollars. That's good coin for a young man with his head on straight. He played in the G-League too, but hung up his sneakers at age 30 with a lot of money saved.

(03-29-2019 12:39 PM)Tribe32 Wrote:  I won't be surprised if he's a first round pick. His skill set is very unique. I could see him as a Chris Bosch type at the next level. I've watched him shoot from NBA 3 point range in practice (during shooting drills) and he is a much better shooter than his stats reflect. His passing is much more advanced than most big men and he can run the floor. My only negative is foot work and that can be taught.

I also won't be surprised if he's to the wind regardless. He's going to make a lot of money somewhere playing this sport. I have a good friend who had a son play at Illinois a while back. 6'9" power forward with much less true skill as Nate. He played in Europe for years making between 150-250 in US Dollars. That's good coin for a young man with his head on straight. He played in the G-League too, but hung up his sneakers at age 30 with a lot of money saved.

It'd be great for us if he was, but he's not really getting a lot of press right now. ESPN doesn't have him in their top 100 (And they do have JWF and plenty of other mid major players) http://www.espn.com/nba/draft/bestavaila...ovr/page/1

Smart move. Probably unrelated to the coaching situation. He might be back, but if the NBA opportunity is there, no reason not to go for it. (I'm not the biggest NBA watcher, but I think he needs some more development before he sees any minutes in the NBA).

I should add, it’s a bit odd to read the article on TribeAthletics.com announcing this news, with Huge providing the only quote. Obviously want it to be Shaver or one of the assistant coaches talking about how much we support Nate etc because after all, they are the ones who helped him develop! I’m not a Huge-hater like many of you seem to be, but even I got riled up seeing her quote in that article.


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Huge’s chance for positive national press. Of course she gave the comment.


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(03-29-2019 01:04 PM)Tribe32 Wrote:  Huge’s chance for positive national press. Of course she gave the comment.


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I know - not saying I was surprised - and of course Shaver and coaching staff weren’t options, but it just doesn’t feel right, especially given what’s transpired the last few weeks!

I’m still holding out hope for great things for the 2019-2020 season.


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10th man on an NBA team (more likely he would end up inthe G League) vs best player on a crappy team with a new coach...what a choice.

(03-29-2019 12:39 PM)Tribe32 Wrote:  I won't be surprised if he's a first round pick. His skill set is very unique. I could see him as a Chris Bosch type at the next level. I've watched him shoot from NBA 3 point range in practice (during shooting drills) and he is a much better shooter than his stats reflect. His passing is much more advanced than most big men and he can run the floor. My only negative is foot work and that can be taught.

I will buy you a steak if Nate is a first-round pick this year.

It's not all that likely he's drafted at all. He's on people's radars for sure but I don't know anyone calling him a top-60 prospect at this juncture. Doesn't mean a team wouldn't use a mid-to-late second stashing him in the G-League/overseas. But by declaring he gets access to focused analysis and specialized coaching for the next two months with no real drawbacks for someone with a clear professional future.

So I think all in all it's a good thing for him to do. But I still think it's about 80/20 he's playing another year of college ball.

(03-29-2019 12:20 PM)Tribester Wrote:  Interesting that he name dropped Holmes...but no mention of Tony by name. Thinking maybe Nate was not Shaver’s biggest fan???

Yes it was also interesting that he mentioned Holmes specifically, but not Austin Shaver. Tony made multiple mentions the last few weeks of the season about how the assistants, and Austin in particular, had really worked hard with Nathan, and that they also deserve a lot of credit for his growth. Probably nothing here, and I’m as guilty as the rest of you of trying to read the tea leaves in this period of great uncertainty and lots of unknowns...


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He's under the radar to some of the sports outlets, but not to scouts. He destroyed his opponents toward the end of the season when we started putting him on the block. He will most certainly work out in organized events for more scouts. Go back and look what he did against UVA and Notre Dame when we were playing like crap at the start of the season.

(03-29-2019 02:12 PM)FauqDawg10 Wrote:  

(03-29-2019 12:39 PM)Tribe32 Wrote:  I won't be surprised if he's a first round pick. His skill set is very unique. I could see him as a Chris Bosch type at the next level. I've watched him shoot from NBA 3 point range in practice (during shooting drills) and he is a much better shooter than his stats reflect. His passing is much more advanced than most big men and he can run the floor. My only negative is foot work and that can be taught.

I will buy you a steak if Nate is a first-round pick this year.

It's not all that likely he's drafted at all. He's on people's radars for sure but I don't know anyone calling him a top-60 prospect at this juncture. Doesn't mean a team wouldn't use a mid-to-late second stashing him in the G-League/overseas. But by declaring he gets access to focused analysis and specialized coaching for the next two months with no real drawbacks for someone with a clear professional future.

So I think all in all it's a good thing for him to do. But I still think it's about 80/20 he's playing another year of college ball.

Looking back at the UVA game, Knight was the best player on the floor. He had a couple of plays (hit a 3, bringing the ball up the court, the cross over drive into a layup) that show his potential at the next leve. He’s a clear candidate to build hype as more eyes get on him. W&M has had no national exposure to get him on the more mainstream media radar. But the tools are there for him to be a small ball 5, or a 4, shooting low-mid 30% from 3 with solid handles and amazing passing ability.

Once more people watch the tape I think that’ll become apparent. Add in the impressive improvement from freshman year showing that he hasn’t maxed potential and you have a classic early-mid 2nd pick. Still think he could have secured a late 1st round pick with another year building on this one, but if I was advising him I would have led the charge for him to stay in the draft given the current state of our team.

This is the dagger. Opens the door for the new coach to start fresh. My hope is the he knows where the players are. We’re leaving Bermuda; four days to the Azores.

I'm not at all surprised that the pro-Huge crowd are trying to spin this to knock Tony. I guess, in their eyes, all 6 guys didn't like Tony. I mean, if I didn't like a coach, I would definitely wait for him to leave before announcing my desire to walk away from the program. Makes zero sense.

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(03-29-2019 04:02 PM)Tribal Wrote:  I'm not at all surprised that the pro-Huge crowd are trying to spin this to knock Tony. I guess, in their eyes, all 6 guys didn't like Tony. I mean, if I didn't like a coach, I would definitely wait for him to leave before announcing my desire to walk away from the program. Makes zero sense.

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+1

(03-29-2019 03:13 PM)Tribe32 Wrote:  He's under the radar to some of the sports outlets, but not to scouts. He destroyed his opponents toward the end of the season when we started putting him on the block. He will most certainly work out in organized events for more scouts. Go back and look what he did against UVA and Notre Dame when we were playing like crap at the start of the season.

Professional outlets are not wildly behind scouts in terms of what they see. Nathan is not under the radar to anyone--he's well-known to you, me, the scouts, the outlets, and anyone who follows the general college basketball landscape as one of the best mid-major big man prospects. Guys who are not necessarily the highest-ranked prospects are sometimes taken as a draft-and-stash guys. But almost no top ~40 pick (the guys really in line for guaranteed NBA money) is not on a high number of draft board shortlists.

Nate is a very good player, but most very good players aren't drafted, and I don't expect that Nate will be either this season. Of course, his current evaluation could change, and he really has nothing to lose by talking to, and working out for, all the people evaluating him--he will definitely learn more about where he stands and what specifically they think he needs to work on--until May 29. But again, I highly expect to see him back in school next year, hopefully for the Green and Gold.