With Oshae Brissett officially keeping his name in the 2019 NBA Draft, there’s been a lot of talk on if he’ll be another Cuse bust. One word: balderdash.
I’ll admit it right now. I was initially surprised, upset, and downright mad when the news about Oshae Brissett officially leaving the Syracuse basketball program to pursue a career in the NBA came out.
After his freshman year, it was inevitable that he would not be a four-year player. However, after Tyus Battle returned for his junior year to hone some skills in anticipation for his NBA career, I figured Brissett would follow suit. After all, he had played second fiddle to Battle the past two seasons, so one year as the main guy seemed like a very good idea.
Well, clearly Oshae had some other ideas.
After performing extremely well at the G-League Elite Camp, Brissett was a handful of players invited to the NBA Combine – where he shined even more.
For reference, he took home the prize for the lowest body fat percentage of anyone at the combine (2.9% to be exact), and also performed extremely well in the vertical jump and scrimmages.
Most importantly, his three-point range really caught the eyes of scouts, which most likely had a huge impact on his stock rising, and ultimately his decision to keep his name in the NBA Draft.
However, there are still some Syracuse fans who disagree with Brissett and are already writing him down as a potential bust – something that has become a common theme over the past decade.
Syracuse Basketball Players Taken in the First Round of the NBA Draft Since 2008 (According to sports-reference.com):
- Donte Greene (2008)
- Jonny Flynn (2009)
- Wes Johnson (2010)
- Dion Waiters (2012)
- Fab Melo (2012)
- Michael Carter-Williams (2013)
- Jerami Grant (2014)
- Tyler Ennis (2014)
- Chris McCullough (2015)
- Malachi Richardson (2016)
- Tyler Lydon (2017)
Of the 11 players listed, only six were on an NBA roster as of this season, and only Waiters and Grant average above 10 points per game.
Of course, part of this has to do with injuries. Flynn and Carter-Williams have been injury plagued, with Waiters potentially trending in that direction. However, others simply didn’t pan out, such as Donte Greene and Chris McCullough.
Of course, to each their own, as players have all sorts of reasons for why they choose to leave college early for the chance to make millions of dollars playing professional sports. In some cases, they have families to provide for, and in all honesty, who wouldn’t want to make a few million dollars a year before the age of 25?
With this being said, there seems to be a common theme with these 11 Syracuse basketball players who left for the NBA before their senior seasons. Together, they’ve combined for 0 NBA All-Star Game appearances, and Carter-Williams was the only one of the bunch to win the NBA Rookie of the Year Award. Even worse, a good chunk of these guys were lottery picks, with a couple of them going in the top five, putting them side-by-side with ‘bust’ jokes.
I’ll tell you right now though, Oshae Brissett WILL NOT be a bust, and I don’t care what you have to say about it. Two things about him really stand out and put him above the rest:
- First and foremost, he is a workaholic. Not to say that these other guys didn’t work their tails off to become first-round picks, because they all did. But Brissett’s entire game is about working harder than his opponent. Whether it’s beating an opponent to a tough rebound, going up hard to the basket to draw a foul, or simply playing practically all 40 minutes a game as he did too many times to count in his two years under Jim Boeheim. Oshae Brissett will outwork you, and that is a big asset to have in the NBA.
- Lastly, Brissett knows his role. Trust me, Oshae wants to be an all-star. He wants to be the guy that comes in and scores 20 on a nightly basis. Heck, everyone does. But Oshae also knows that to be that guy, he’s got to accept his role and grow from there. That’s exactly what Jerami Grant did to get where he is now – a full-time starter on a playoff caliber team alongside two of the top stars in today’s game. Yep, by Brissett accepting his job as a role player, he will most certainly earn more and more minutes, provided that he does his part on the court.
Would it be nice to see Oshae Brissett in a Syracuse uniform next season? Most definitely. But I’m all in on his decision to take his talents to the NBA, and he will most certainly not disappoint.