Reviewing Grand Rapids Drive’s full D-League draft
By Dan Feldman
1. Robert Covington, Tennessee State
Covington was the Drive’s expected first pick, and they followed through.
5. Ben Hansbrough, Notre Dame
Tyler Hansbrough’s younger brother, Ben played spottily and ineffectively for the 2012-13 Pacers. The 26-year-old point guard has played overseas before and after. Most recently, the Bulls invited him to training camp and then released him.
23. Omondi Amoke, Cal State Fullerton
Cal suspended Amoke just before the 2010 NCAA tournament. He resurfaced a couple years later at Cal State Fullerton, where he averaged 10.6 points and 9.3 rebounds per game. A 6-foot-7 forward, Amoke can be an energy player who rebounds and defends.
37. Shaun Pruitt, Illinois
All analysis of the center pulled from the Maize Rage’s official newsletter.
2005:
"Selfish freshman: Shaun Pruitt (#55), a freshman forward, hasn’t been too happy with Coach Weber’s recent decisions. “I’m frustrated with not playing more,” said the rookie. “S-Dot”, who averages a paltry 1.5 points per game, considers himself a great rap freestyler. It’s amazing he can play basketball and rap so successfully while being such a hothead. “A lot of people have been hating on me, and I’m the type that will confront you in a second,” Pruitt stated in a recruiting journal entry that highlighted his anger problems. Additionally, in a high school all star game, young Shaun was benched, and as he retreated to the bench, he took off his shoes and pouted. It sounds likes he should consider himself lucky to average 4 minutes on the top team in the country."
2006:
"Hails from Aurora, IL, where he was a next door neighbor of Wayne Campbell and often rode in the “CAR!” that halted street hockey games"
2008:
"Arrested in 2006 after spitting on and slapping a bouncer at The Clybourne in Champaign; declared for the NBA Draft last spring before deciding that it would be best to return for his senior season (anyone surprised?)"
47. Kammeon Holsey, Georgia Tech
Holsey went undrafted this year, but he already has professional experience.
49. Dominic Waters, Portland State
After playing in Europe, Waters is playing in the D-League for the first time because he believes it gets him closer to the NBA.
59. Renaldo Woolridge, USC
Son of Orlando Woolridge, who started for the Pistons as they transitioned from the Bad Boys era.
77. Kelsey Barlow, UIC
Barlow made the Big Ten’s All-Freshman at Purdue, but the Boilermakers kicked him off the team because, as he explained, he went to a bar. His nickname at Purdue was “God Dammit Barlow,” befitting of his potential and frustrating plays.
94. Moses Sundufu, St. Mary’s
"When he closes his eyes, Moses Sundufu can still see the burning buildings and the helpless people roaming the Sierra Leone streets.But that’s about all the St. Mary’s guard has allowed himself to remember of his homeland’s civil war.Born right around the time the diamond–fueled war began back in 1991, Sundufu fled Sierra Leone with his brother, Michael, when he was just 6 years old. They quickly left for Guinea, a country in West Africa, before moving on with their aunt to Gambia.By the time he was 9, they fled as refugees to the United States, where they rejoined their mother in Hopkins, Minn."
95. Jerrell Sanders, Ferris State
Grand Rapids native!