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The Indiana Hoosiers have two very intriguing players in this year's NBA draft: Jalen Hood-Schifino and Trayce Jackson-Davis. Both are projected to go in the first round on Thursday.
Jalen Hood-Schifino has had such a meteoric rise that some projections put him as a lottery pick with NBA teams believed to consider his ceiling stratospheric.
Jackson-Davis established himself as one of the best playmakers and passers in this draft class. Clips of his outrageous passes routinely flooded social media platforms after Indiana games.
He's taking his talents to the NBA, and TJD, as he's come to be affectionately known, has been termed as league-ready. He has just a bit of everything: athleticism, explosiveness, scoring power and obviously inventive passing.
These factors have combined to boost his rankings in various draft projections with some predicting that he will go as high as No.19, which would be to the Golden State Warriors.
He isn't the only Hoosier going to the NBA though. Big Ten Freshman of the Year Jalen Hood-Schifino is also hoping to be picked on Thursday night. They combined to great effect as Indiana finished 23-12.
Indiana's best prospects in ages
TJD is a well-rounded basketball player, and observers see him as a complete player who will make an instant impact in the NBA.
His numbers look good on paper, and he backed them up, passing the eye-test with flying colors. He averaged 20.9 points, 10.8 rebounds, 2.9 blocks and 4.0 assists last season, at times figuratively carrying Indiana on his back.
He is projected to be a late first-round or early second-round pick, and one team has a lot of picks in that range. The Indiana Pacers have the Nos. 26, 29 and 32 picks. It helps TJD's chances that he has already had predraft workouts with them.
Jalen Hood-Schifino didn't always look like a one-and-done prospect, but he exploded during his brief time for the Hoosiers. When teammate Xavier Johnson got injured and Hood-Schifino got more play is when he started to show off his full range of abilities.
It helps that he is confident in his abilities and looks ready to contribute at the NBA level. He was confident enough in his abilities to back up the projections of him being a lottery pick.
Hood-Schifino explained his make-something happen mentality:
"I'm the type of player that I'm never going to shy away from the bright lights or the moment. As you see, whenever the ball's put into my hands, great things happened, and it allowed me to take off and have a successful season and put me in a position to potentially be a lottery pick and first-round pick."
Some projections have him as the No.15 pick going to the Atlanta Hawks where he'd play alongside Trae Young.
