INDIANAPOLIS — The Indiana graduating seniors who are on the draft prospect workout circuit — among them Sam Alexis, Tucker DeVries and Lamar Wilkerson — are trying to stay in constant contact so they can go into workouts with a better idea of what they’re in for.
After DeVries worked out with the Pacers last week, Alexis wasn’t shy at all about pumping him for information.
“I definitely hit him up,” Alexis said after his workout with the Indiana Pacers on Friday. “I asked him what we were doing and it helped me a lot, just not knowing the unknowns.”
The point is that the graduated Hoosiers are supposed to help each other out, but if Alexis is being honest, he’d much rather be the guy benefitting from others experiences than being the one blazing the trail.
“I want to be the last one,” Alexis said, who also had scheduled workouts with the Grizzlies, Thunder and Lakers.
The workouts are important for Alexis because he has to be able to show he can be a little different than he was at IU. For much of this season he was operating as the 5 man, at least when he wasn’t playing alongside Reed Bailey. However at 6 foot 9, 240 pounds he knows he’s probably not going to play much center in the NBA if he gets a foothold there. He’ll be a power forward, and one who will have to bring more on the defensive end than he does on offense.
That means sometimes protecting the rim as he did this season at Indiana when he averaged 1.2 blocks per game, but more to the point it means proving he can switch and defend guards on the perimeter.
“I’m a great energy guy,” Alexis said. “I can bring great energy to the team, being versatile, being able to guard every position. Bringing that physicality to the team. That’s all I’m trying to showcase. I like the challenge when I’m guarding guards. I think it’s fun being able to guard guards.”
Alexis comes to the NBA draft workout process having had a variety of college basketball experiences, as many players do now in the transfer portal era. He spent his first two years at Chattanooga where he was named to the Southern Conference’s All-Freshman team as a freshman and both third-team all-conference and all-defense as a sophomore, In his junior year he transferred to Florida and averaged just 11.9 minutes per game in 24 appearances off the bench, but he was part of a team that won the national championship.
“It’s a great feeling,” Alexis said. “Just learning how hard you have to push yourself. When they were going through that run, they were in the gym day in and day out. I got to see what it takes. Everybody gotta be on one string. Everybody gotta have the same goals.”
But his time at Indiana also gave him an experience he needed to have before beginning a professional career. At Florida he was stuck behind a top-line frontcourt that included Alex Condon, Thomas Haugh and Rueben Chinyelu. At Indiana he was part of a team that completely turned over under first-year coach Darian DeVries and he had to make an impact immediately in a top-level conference. He started 23 of his 32 games and averaged 21.3 minutes per game.
“I came from Florida where I was playing behind guys like Tommy and Rueben,” Alexis said. “It was just going somewhere I could showcase my talents at the highest levels as well. Having the opportunity, I was able to start and play in front of one of the best fanbases in college basketball.”
Dustin Dopirak covers the Pacers all season. Get more coverage on IndyStarTV and with the Pacers Insider newsletter.
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Indiana’s Sam Alexis trying to show he can defend guards, bring energy in the NBA
Reporting by Dustin Dopirak, Indianapolis Star / Indianapolis Star
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By Dustin Dopirak, Indianapolis Star | USA TODAY Network
