12. Isaiah Stewart, Power Forward
Current Team: Washington
The frontcourt for the Washington Huskies is chocked full of NBA talent. In general, the Washington basketball program keeps churning out top 10 picks and recruiting at a very high level without finding a whole lot of success on the hardwood. Hopefully in the case of 6-foot-9 stout freshman power forward Isaiah Stewart, that will translate to a high draft pick and NBA success.
Stewart is off to about as good of a start through three games during his freshman campaign as anyone could ask for. When it comes to draft night 2020, Stewart could be looking as low as a back-end lottery pick or as high as a top five pick. There’s just not enough evidence yet to show that he is an NBA ready big man on offense.
Even though Stewart stands at just 6-foot-9, his 245 pound frame and 7-foot-4 wingspan could make him an elite defensive big man at the next level. The proof is in the pudding so far with the Huskies. He’s averaging 2.7 blocks per game and he’s not even playing at the five. He’s doing all that while only averaging 3.0 fouls per game.
The defensive prowess of Stewart down low might’ve been underrated coming out of high school. But we’ll also see where his foul and block numbers trend come the more difficult portion of the non-conference slate and the start of PAC-12 play.
Nonetheless, an 8.1 percent block rate and 9.2 percent offensive rebounding rate shows elite marks in those categories.