UC-Irvine's Mamadou Ndiaye is a Shot Blocking, Dunking Machine Waiting to Happen--Just Not Yet

If there is one player that NBA teams do not want to come out in the draft this year it is UC-Irvine freshman Mamadou Ndiaye. It's not that he doesn't have game. The 7'6" center weighs in at 290 pounds, averages just under 10 points a game in roughly 20 minutes of play. He's averaging 3.5 blocks a game and has failed to record one just twice this season.

So why would they want him to wait?

He has the physical characteristics that NBA teams salivate over, but his game has a ways to go before he would be ready to play at the NBA-level. While he shoots 79 percent from the field the vast majority of his shots are dunks; he is 7'6" after all. Scoot him back a few feet and things go south pretty quick (he's a dismal 38 percent from the line).

I suppose he could continue to work on his game in the Developmental League if a team wanted to nab him late in the second round. He will probably be down their for a year or two, but with the right tutor Ndiaye could turn in to a heck of a pro.

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