Andrew BellJosh Christopher’s career at Arizona State has ended almost as quick as it started. There were flashes of the potential during his one season in maroon and gold, but COVID-19 and injuries limited his time in Tempe.
There could be a lot of “what ifs” with Christopher’s career at ASU, but his time has now come to a close. Despite not seeing Christopher’s full potential on the court, that shouldn’t deter too much of his NBA Draft stock.
Still projected as a mid-to-late first round pick in many early mock drafts, the Mayfair High School product is another example of a trend among highly-touted, one and done basketball players over the last few seasons.
Players like Christopher have shown their talent and athleticism, but the on-court products and teams that they play for haven’t churned out successful seasons.
Fox Sports college basketball analyst Casey Jacobsen joined the Brad Cesmat Show on Wednesday to address this topic, comparing Christopher’s one year in Tempe to that of players like Ben Simmons, Anthony Edwards, and Markelle Fultz when they were in college.
“If you look at the recent history of college basketball, the top picks in the country…there is a recent track record of even the best prospects in the NBA…your pro potential has literally nothing to do with your college production and whether or not you can help a team turn things around,” Jacobsen explained. “Josh Christopher was like a comet that went across the sky. If you blinked, you might have missed him. I wish him luck at the NBA level and I think he can have a fantastic career, but he’s going to have a forgotten college career. There’s no other way to say it.”
Both Christopher and Stanford standout freshman guard Ziare Williams were not on the Pac-12’s All-Freshmen team despite being projected future NBA picks coming out of high school.
Jacobsen also saw similarities between those two talented guards. Both missed time during the season, but the bottom line is that it won’t affect their status in the eyes of NBA scouts and coaches moving forward.
