Stony Brook Alum Jameel Warney Looks To Take Talents To NBADL

In a Sunday afternoon Tweet, Dallas Mavericks beat writer Earl Sneed announced that the team waived 6’8 forward Jameel Warney. Although Warney impressed during his stints in Summer League and Pre-Season, the move isn’t surprising when you consider the team seems to already have their front-court in place. Coinciding with the team’s mainstays in Dirk Nowitzki, Dwight Powell and Salah Mejri, the Mavericks spent the off-season bringing in Quincy Acy, A.J. Hammons and Andrew Bogut.

Despite his recent release from the Mavericks, Jameel Warney should still be spending the season in the Dallas-Fort Worth Area. That’s due to a source telling Ridiculous Upside that the Stony Brook alum will be starting the 2016-17 campaign with the Texas Legends, the Mavericks’ NBADL affiliate.

This potential move should excite most Legends fans due to how Warney spent most of his Stony Brook career by being one of the most dominating front-court forces in college basketball. Although he remained under the radar due to playing for the mid-major Stony Brook, Warney repeatedly put up numbers that most analytical nerds could only even dream of.

That’s most evident during his senior season, where Warney averaged 19.8 points, 10.8 rebounds and 3 blocks per game on 62% from the field. Those incredible numbers and efficiency gave Warney a 36.4 PER (Player Efficiency Rating), which 2nd in the entire NCAA behind High Point’s John Brown Alongside that, those numbers allowed Warney to win his third-straight America East Conference Player of the Year while also being named as an Honorable Mention for the AP All-American.

Those impressive numbers wouldn’t have been possible if Warney wasn’t a tenacious monster that tried to wreck the hopes and dreams of his opposition . Whether it was against Northeasten or Kentucky, Warney continually established himself as the hardest working player on the court.

That tenacious nature is most evident on the offensive end as Warney established himself as an inside force despite standing 6’8. To counter his lack of size, Warney uses the trifecta of his tenacious work ethic, great footwork and beastly 255 pound frame. Those traits allow him to be a pretty dynamic scorer from inside the paint, whether that’s through post-ups, off-ball cuts or offensive rebounding.

At this point, Warney’s best trait on this end of the court is as an offensive rebounder. During his senior season, Warney 4.5 offensive rebounds per game, the 3rd best average in the entire NCAA. Again, that success goes back to Warney’s great work ethic as he does a great job of boxing out on the opposition to get the necessary position to grab the offensive board. Alongside that, Warney frequently utilizes putback dunks to add to his offensive rebounding total, an example that you can see in the play below:

Transitioning over to the defensive end, Warney shines as an extremely prolific rim protector. That prolific nature is evident by him averaging 3.0 blocks per game, the fifth highest average in the entire NCAA. Similar to his work as an offensive rebounder, Warney’s able to be effective through great work ethic and solid basketball IQ.

That defensive awareness is evident with how Warney’s able to survey the court to find an on-ball cutter and just pursue him. After that initial pursuit, Warney’s able to get in the necessary position to make the tenacious block. As you can see in the play below, Warney’s able to block back-court players or lanky big men like Skal Labissiere.

With Jameel Warney looking to transition into a career in the D-League, he might stand as one of the biggest diamond in the rough prospects in the entire league. Although he’s an undersized 6’8 forward without much of an outside game, Warney makes up for it by how he’s such an imposing inside threat on both ends of the ball. While it may be awhile until his NBA dreams come true, NBADL and Texas Legends fans will have an opportunity to watch an impressive player.