While preparing for his team’s senior tribute sendoff last March, LSU basketball coach Will Wade predicted guard Skylar Mays would make a lot of money playing professional basketball.
“Medical school’s going to be on hold,” Wade said of Mays, a three-time Academic All-American as a pre-med major. “He’s going to make a great doctor. I’d let him operate on me, but he’s going to have a 10- to 12-year NBA career first.”
One thing has changed in the eight months since making that statement, Wade said Monday.
“It may be longer than 12 years now,” he said with a laugh.
That’s because Mays, a Baton Rouge native who became a four-year starter for his hometown Tigers, has worked himself into position to be selected in the NBA draft Wednesday night.
When the 6-foot-4 shooting guard completed his collegiate career, one in which Mays became the first LSU player to record 1,600 points, 400 rebounds, 300 assists and 200 steals, he didn’t appear on the mock drafts.
On Tuesday, Mays was a second-round pick on many national mocks. In a random survey of eight mocks, he was predicted to go anywhere from 42nd to 52nd in the 60-pick draft.
The former University High star ranks 44th on the CBSSports.com’s list of prospects.
While the NBA draft can be an unpredictable exercise, Wade was confident after fielding pre-draft calls about Mays from 24 of the league’s 30 teams.
“There’s no doubt in my mind he’s going to get drafted … no doubt,” Wade said. “From the feedback he’s gotten and things I heard (from scouts), he’ll be drafted. I would say three or four teams have a very, very serious interest.”
While Mays improved his scoring averages each year at LSU, he made great strides with his shooting accuracy as a senior. He improved his overall field-goal shooting 7% from his junior year to 49.1% and upped his 3-point shooting 8% to a respectable 39.4%.
The ability to hit from beyond the 3-point arc, Wade said, was one of the things Mays needed to show in a a virtual combine workout held recently at the New Orleans Pelicans’ Metairie headquarters.
In one spot-up shooting drill, Mays, a career 84.5% free-throw shooter, drained 23 of 26 field-goal attempts from beyond the NBA’s 25-foot 3-point line.
“I watched some of his workouts online and he did a good job,” Wade said. “He did what he needed to do, be a consistent shooter, and he backed that up from his senior year. So he definitely helped himself with his 3-point shooting at his combine workout.
“He’s done everything he can to this point. So you trust in your work and who you are and the things you’ve done, and things will work out.”
An NBA scout not affiliated with the Pelicans said Mays’ character and ability to play within the team and make shots should serve him well Wednesday night.
“First and foremost is the level of human being he is,” the scout said. “Also, the level of shooter that Skylar has proven to be over a large sample size, with his 3-point shooting almost at 40% this season, shows his shooting improvement is real.”
The scout added that while Mays’ shooting and versatility as a combo guard make him an attractive prospect, he also competes hard on defense.
“He’s not a liability on either end of the floor,” he said.
Even with the uncertainty of a draft, especially in the second round when there are so many prospects waiting for their name to be called, the scout said he’s confident Mays will get picked — perhaps by the Pelicans, who hold three second-round picks.
“Being close to home, it wouldn’t surprise me to see the local team take a shot at him in the second round,” the scout said.
