Will Markelle Fultz No Show PAC-12 Tourney Impact 2017 NBA Draft ?

Washington Huskies Mens Basketball star Markelle Fultz never saw the basketball court in the PAC-12 Tournament. His team did, and lost their thirteenth straight to rival USC 78-73

On one hand, Markelle Fultz is a phenomenal freshman basketball player for the University of Washington Huskies. On the other hand, he is likely a one-and-done player in NCAA Men’s basketball.  Even so, he is already on the tongues of virtually all NBA scouts.

Nearly all project him in the top three, many as the top prospect overall. Markelle Fultz’s dream of an NCAA tournament to launch his NBA career appears to be extinguished. A high ceiling NBA career can sooth that wound, but with his absence, is his NBA Draft stock suffering as well?

Markelle Fultz played in two of the team’s last eight games.  In the 2016-2017 season, he showed up and played hard in 25 of 31 games.

The NBA season is 82 games.

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Right now, the most important goal is to get Markelle Fultz healthy.  But that’s tough to understand, because the narrative about the injury has remained “sore knee”.  A bruise can be defined as a sore knee.  A sprain, strain, or tear to soft tissues can be described as a sore knee.

Some ailments are nothing. Some ailments mean everything.

Debate and Defense

The matter of Markelle Fultz’s health has been a prolonged debate in the closing months of the season. He fell off the grid after the “great showbown” between himself and UCLA NBA Draft hopeful Lonzo Ball.   UCLA won that game 107 – 66.  While Fultz led all scorers in that game with 25 points, 6 rebounds, 3 steals, and 5 assists, Ball chipped in 22 points, 6 rebounds, 4 steals and 5 assists.

Air Alamo

Fultz would sit the next two games, but returned to play against Arizona State and Arizona.  He didn’t play a game after that.  Some suggested he decided not to risk injury for a losing team with a huge NBA Draft day coming up.

That caused head coach Lorenzo Romar to come to his defense, emphatically.

After he returned for two games, the hope was that he was back, and would finish out on a positive note with his team.

But after two games, he was sore again. The doctors decided he needed to rest the knee.  And so he did.

Oh… And Disappointment

I had waited months to see Markelle Fultz play. Patiently, I had circled the calendar for the road game visit to Pullman, Washington. I purchased courtside seats months ago.  My plan was to make a day of it, watching the phenomenal Markelle Fultz play the game be loved. Like Markelle Fultz, I am learning to deal with disappointment.

He last played on February 18th. He has now “rested” his knee for ten days. Since the huge loss at UCLA 107-66, Fultz has only played in two of the past five games.  In the two outings, he scored 19 points in 30 minutes in the loss to Arizona State University, and scored 26 points in a losing effort against the Arizona Wildcats.

As of the UW-WSC contest, the Huskies had lost ten consecutive games, the longest losing streak in the history of UW. It would get worse.

To get the details about Markelle Fultz, I recommend this article by Christian Caple.  In this piece, he addresses the injury to Fultz, and head coach Lorenzo Romar’s discussion on the topic:

"“UW coach Lorenzo Romar said freshman guard Markelle Fultz, the Pac-12’s leading scorer, has not been cleared by doctors to return to the court, and his status for Wednesday’s game remains uncertain. Fultz sat out UW’s 79-71 loss at Washington State on Sunday, and has now missed three of the team’s last five games due to a sore knee.”"

This could spell disastrous for Fultz with the upcoming NBA Draft.

Early Exit PAC-12 Tournament

The University of Washington didn’t have much hope for the NCAA tournament. From the moment the Huskies basketball team began the conference contests, the Huskies were seeing L’s far too often. But the hopes flickered as long as the team could turn it around, perhaps even get hot enough to show well in the PAC-12 tournament.

But it didn’t happen.

The Washington Huskies Men’s Basketball team, seeded number 11, lost game one to the USC Trojans.  Now the team must regroup.  Who stays, who goes?  Will Lorenzo Romar survive this season to coach again?  If he survives, does the team reorganize the coaching staff?

The 2016-2017 brought more questions than answers to the Huskies Men’s Basketball program.  And with the 2017 Men’s Basketball recruiting class ranked fifth in the nation, led by Michael Porter Jr., the team needs answers to those questions pronto.

But the largest questions, and the most timely, focus on Markelle Fultz.  His NCAA basketball career is likely over. His NBA basketball career is about to begin.  Unlike the NCAA experience, he has a real chance to fulfill his full potential and become an integral part of an NBA Championship team.

NBA Executives are “nervous nellies” when it comes to the NBA Draft with the top five picks. Ambiguity, confusion, and risks are shunned.  Let’s hope Markelle Fultz’s knees are fine, and that NBA front offices can be convinced of that.

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The NCAA tournament is the stage by which many of the nations top talents display how well they compete against similarly talented players. Fultz will miss out. But ending the season injured now tosses questions from the film room into the medical charts. UW Husky Markelle Fultz is a special player. Let’s hope the NBA still sees it that way.