Markelle Fultz had a mammoth season at Washington this year. In his lone collegiate season, Fultz led the Huskies with 23.2 points per game and 5.9 assists.
Despite the fact that they only won nine games, Fultz is projected to be a top three selection in the upcoming NBA draft.
A result of the Huskies mighty struggles on the court allowed Lonzo Ball and Josh Jackson to potentially usurp his place at the top of the draft board, but that doesn’t appear to be slowing the lofty goals he has set for himself.
Fultz, who will be 19 years old when the NBA Draft rolls around on July 16th, wants to do something that hasn’t been done in nearly half a century: win the MVP and Rookie of the Year award in the same season.
USA Today’s For The Win caught up with the basketball wunderkind and got it straight from the horses mouth:
“I want to be Rookie of the Year. I want to come in and honestly, me, I’m trying to be the MVP next year.”
Big talk. Fultz has clearly shown the goods to back up the talk in Washington, but the NBA is a league comprised of professional basketball players who are committed to honing their craft. Players don’t often dominate the league the second the walk through the door. Lebron didn’t do it. MJ didn’t do. Ichiro did it, but we’re crossing a few barriers to draw a comparison at that point.
He’ll get the opportunity to accomplish his goal, as any team that spends their lottery pick to draft will likely give him a spot in the starting rotation right off the bat. Expect a huge learning curve, though. It exists for every player, and Fultz is no exception.
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