Breaking Down The List Of Invites To The D-League National Tryout

On Sunday August 14th, the NBADL will host nearly 200 aspiring D-Leaguers at their National Tryout in New York City. Most of those players are folks that registered online for a chance to just compete in the tryout. This year, the D-League have added a new wrinkle to the event, as they’ve invited 50 players to compete in the afternoon portion of their tryout.

Former college studs, Portsmouth Invitational standouts and Summer League competitors fill out that list of aspiring D-Leaguers:

Peter Alexis – Philadelphia University (D2)

Tavon Allen – Drexel

Dii’Jon Allen-Jordan – Campbellsville (NAIA)

Gerald Beverly – Daeman (D2)

Trahson Burrell – Memphis

Jalen Cannon – St. Francis (NY)

Quinton Chievous – Hampton

Chauncey Collins – TCU

Aaron Cosby – Western Kentucky

Jaleel Cousins – South Florida

Stephen Croone – Furman

Will Davis – UC-Irvine

Ousmane Drame – Quinnipiac

Octavius Ellis – Cincinnati

Bryson Fonville – Catholic University (D3)

Chris Fowler – Central Michigan

JC Fuller – Western Illinois

Sterling Gibbs – UConn

Shaquille Harrison – Tulsa

Shaquille Hines – UT-RGV

Jonathan Holton – West Virginia

Ky Howard – NJIT

Deon Jones – Monmouth

Roosevelt Jones – Butler

Markus Kennedy – SMU

Lasan Kromah – UConn

Davonte Lacy – Washington St

Anthony Lee – Temple/Ohio State

Stedmon Lemon – Johnson C. Smith (D2)

DeAndre Mathieu – Minnesota

Shonn Miller – UConn

Keon Moore – Winthrop

Earvin Morris Jr. – UTEP

Ron Mvouika – St. John’s

Chris Obekpa – St. John’s

Ethan O’Day – Vermont

Chris Ortiz – Kent St

Devonta Pollard – Houston

Marcus Posley – St. Bonaventure

Carson Puriefoy – Stony Brook

Shane Richards – Manhattan

Jaleel Roberts – UNC-Asheville

Jamaal Samuel – Louisiana-Monroe

Antwan Scott – Colorado St

Palpreet Singh – No College (India)

Daniel Stewart – Rider

Ladarius Tabb – Alabama A&M

Ameen Tanksley – Hofstra

Naadir Tharpe – Kansas

When you look at that above list of players, the first names that should jump out at you is Jonathan Holton and Antwan Scott. That’s primarily due to Ridiculous Upside contributor Jake Hyman recently doing terrific pieces on both Holton and Scott.

Aside from that duo, there’s a terrific crop of former college studs that should be competing in that tryout. Tulsa alum Shaquille Harrison might be the most recognizable player on that list, as he was one of the best players in the American Athletic Conference (AAC) during his junior and senior season. In both seasons, he was named to the All-AAC 2nd team. Harrison accomplished that by being a standout on-ball slasher that could also facilitate, as he averaged 4.1 assists per game as a senior.

Sticking in the AAC, former UConn guard Sterling Gibbs is another standout player that will be in the tryout. As a senior, Gibbs averaged 12.2 points on 39% from the field and 39% from beyond the Even before that UConn season, Gibbs was a standout player for Seton Hall, as he played with them during the 2013-14 and 2014-15 season.

Gibbs actually had his best seasons with Seton Hall, especially in 2014-15. In that season, he averaged 16.3 points on 43% from the field and 44% from beyond the arc. Gibbs’ perimeter efficiency led him to being named to the All-Big East 2nd team.

Gibbs’ former UConn teammate, Shon Miller, is another player that will be making his way to the D-League Tryout. Like Gibbs, Miller transferred to UConn during his senior season, after having a strong career with Cornell. At both Cornell and UConn, Miller established himself as a strong 6’7 forward that can cut to the paint and be a solid alley-oop threat.

Former TCU guard Chauncey Collins might be one of the more intriguing players in this year’s tryout. After a strong sophomore season at TCU where he averaged 12.3 points per game on 38% from the field and 39% from beyond the arc, Collins left the program to pursue going pro. If Collins does land in the D-League, he’ll definitely be a player to look out for. That’s primarily due to his terrific athleticism and standout perimeter jumper.

Transitioning over to the mid-major prospects, there’s several players in the tryout that could turn into good D-Leaguers. Some of those players include: Quinnipiac’s Ousmane Drame, UNC-Asheville’s Jaleel Roberts, St. Francis’ Jalen Cannon, Western Kentucky’s Aaron Cosby and Central Michigan’s Chris Fowler.

Drame is a 6’9 forward that averaged 14.9 points, 11 rebounds and 2.9 blocks per game during his senior season at Quinnipiac. 7-footer Jaleel Roberts is another prospect known for his defensive prowess, as he blocked 2.6 shots per game during his senior season at UNC-Asheville.

Former St. Francis forward Jalen Cannon might be the most intriguing player of the bunch as the 6’7 forward is a phenomenal rebounder. At St. Francis, Cannon averaged 3.5 offensive boards per game during his college career. He was able to carry that rebounding prowess to Jefes of the LNBP Mexican League. With that squad, Cannon pulled in 3.2 offensive boards per game.

Both Aaron Cosby and Chris Fowler are stand-out guards that have plenty of D-League upside. Fowler was the definition of a pass-first guard during his time with Central Michigan, as he maintained a solid 2.2 Ast/TO ratio as a senior. Aside from that, the 6’1 Fowler stood as a very tenacious cutter as he seemed comfortable attacking the rim despite his smaller frame.

Transitioning over to Cosby, the Western Kentucky alum is a versatile scorer that’s effective both as an on-ball cutter and perimeter shooter. As a perimeter threat, Cosby shot 37% on 6.5 attempts during his senior season.

Looking away from the former college standouts, there’s one potential D-Leaguer that everybody will be watching on Sunday: 6’8 Indian forward Palpreet Singh Brar. Back in February, Singh Brar won an opportunity to compete in the NBA D-League National Tryout at an NBA-organized training camp in India. One of the people that Singh Brar impressed was current Lakers assistant coach Brian Shaw, who said the following:

"Palpreet, we all thought, was the guy who had the best chance to succeed," said Shaw, adding, "His feel for the game and understanding, I could tell he grasps it."

At Sunday’s NBA D-League National Tryout, a diverse set of prospects will be competing for an opportunity to possibly land on an NBADL squad. Whether they be former Big East studs, mid-major stars or even an Indian hopeful, this year’s NBA D-League National Tryout will be a great way to unofficially kick off the 2016-17 NBADL season.