Roddy Offers Unique Gifts with Physicality, Versatility

David Roddy doesn't necessarily look like an NBA prospect. The Colorado State star forward, one of four players who auditioned for the Pacers in a pre-draft workout on Monday, is built a lot more like Rob Gronkowski than Klay Thompson.

In fact, the 6-6, 260-pound Roddy once starred on the gridiron as well as the hardwood. At Breck School in Golden Valley, Minn., Roddy was a finalist for both Mr. Basketball and Mr. Football. He played quarterback, throwing for nearly 1,800 yards and 20 touchdowns as a senior. He had offers to play both sports at the Division I level, ultimately choosing basketball at Colorado State over a football scholarship to Wyoming.

He may have a football player's physique, but Roddy certainly made the right choice given his prolific hoops career with the Rams. Roddy averaged 15.5 points per game over three seasons at Colorado State and was named Mountain West Player of the Year for 2021-22 after a standout junior season, where he averaged 19.2 points, 7.5 rebounds, 2.9 assists, 1.1 blocks, and 1.2 steals while shooting 57.1 percent from the field and 43.8 percent from 3-point range.

Roddy did pretty much everything for Colorado State, leading his school to a 25-6 record and a six seed in the NCAA Tournament (the Rams played at Gainbridge Fieldhouse, but were knocked off by 11th-seeded Michigan in first round). He described his game as "very versatile, very fun to watch" on Monday.

In the not-so-distant past, scouts may have had issues projecting where Roddy would fit in at the next level. There was a time that he might have been deemed to big to play on the perimeter, but too short to play in the post. But the success of players like Warriors All-Star Draymond Green, Celtics forward Grant Williams, and even Pacers two-way forward Terry Taylor has opened the door for someone like Roddy to carve a niche as a physical, if undersized, power forward and even a small-ball center.

That's a position where Golden State has deployed Green to great success on its championship runs and Boston has followed suit this spring with Williams in their run to the Eastern Conference Finals.

And while Roddy may be a few inches shorter than the typical NBA big, he's got most of them beat in weight and strength. His length is better than expected as well - his wingspan measured at just under 7 feet at last week's NBA Draft Combine.

"I see myself fitting in, especially at a young age, with my physicality and versatility," Roddy said. "I can guard multiple positions. I can cut hard, I can move off the ball, I can knock down shots. That's really what's important right now in the NBA, physicality and mental toughness. I think I bring that to the table."

One area where Roddy is already ahead of a player like Williams is as a shooter. Williams was an All-American at Tennessee, but thrived on the block, only making 30 3-pointers at 29.1-percent clip over three years in college. Roddy shot just 19.5 percent from beyond the arc as a freshman and 27.8 percent as a sophomore, but he broke out in a big way last season, knocking down 46-of-105 shots from long distance.

His breakthrough moment came in Colorado State's fifth game of the season, when he went 7-for-10 from deep while dropping 36 points in a win over Creighton at the Paradise Jam, a performance that justified all the work he put in to overhauling his shot.

"It was a multi-year process and so having certain games where I'd catch fire was really a sigh of relief my junior year," Roddy said. "After that, my confidence just skyrocketed and I understood that my hard work was paying off and now I can have fun with it."

Roddy, 21, has been competing his whole life, so fighting for an NBA roster spot is just the next great challenge in an accomplished athletic career. In addition to his football and basketball exploits, Roddy won a state championship in the discus and placed second in the shot put in 2019, when he was also named Minnesota Male High School Athlete of the Year.

"There's so many different ways of competition in those (other) sports," Roddy said. "Football, you kind of need an ounce of craziness a little bit. So bringing that to the basketball court definitely helps, along with the physicality. And then track is more of a technical sport. So understanding the fundamentals and understanding the footwork is very, very important (just like) in basketball."

Where might the well-rounded Roddy wind up going in the draft? Pre-draft rankings are mostly a fool's errand, but for whatever it's worth, ESPN currently ranks him as the 31st-best prospect in this year's draft class.

And for whatever it's worth, the Pacers own the the first pick in the second round, the 31st overall selection.

The other three participants in Monday's pre-draft workout were Baylor guard James Akinjo, Alabama guard Keon Ellis, and Marquette forward Justin Lewis. UCLA wing Johnny Juzang and Gonzaga guard Andrew Nembhard were originally scheduled to work out with the Pacers as well, but were unable to make it to Indiana due to weather-related travel issues.

Akinjo had a unique college career, starring at three big-time programs. He began his career at Georgetown, but transferred to Arizona midway through his sophomore season. He played for the Wildcats in 2020-21, but elected to transfer again after a coaching change, winding up in Waco with Scott Drew and the defending national champions last season.

And the thing is, Akinjo was great at every stop. The Oakland native averaged 13.4 points, 5.2 assists, and 1.1 steals in 2018-19 for the Hoyas. He averaged 15.6 points, 5.4 assists, and 1.4 steals in 2020-21 for Arizona. And he averaged 13.5 points, 5.8 assists, and 2.0 steals in 2021-22 for Baylor.

He is almost assuredly the only player in college basketball history to win Big East Freshman of the Year and be named to both the All-Pac 12 and All-Big 12 first teams.

"I think it proved if anything that I'm a competitor," Akinjo said of his nomadic college career. "Very rarely can you play in three Power 5 conferences and perform at a high level like I did. I think it also showed my ability to adapt to any type of system, any type of coach, any type of teammates. I can come in, I can get along with anybody, I can adapt and I'm going to compete."

Just 6-1, Akinjo isn't likely to hear his name called early on draft night. But he's not going to back down from anyone in the pre-draft process, using every workout as an opportunity to show teams how hard he's willing to fight for a spot in the league.

"You should draft me because I'm the best point guard in this draft," Akinjo said of his pitch to teams. "I think with the direction that the NBA is going in right now, you need point guards that can really make plays for others, makes plays for himself, and that have got a little creativity.

"I'm a guy that can push stars in practice. I'm the hardest worker wherever I'm at. I'm just hungry, man. I just want it. I want it more than anybody else."

Ellis began his career in junior college before transferring to Alabama, where was a role player for the Crimson Tide team that won the SEC championship in 2021. He took on a significantly larger role last season and thrived, averaging 12.1 points, 6.1 rebounds, and 1.9 steals per game.

One of the areas where Ellis grew the most over the past year was on the defensive end, where he used his nearly 6-9 wingspan to wreak havoc on opposing players, earning a selection to the SEC's All-Defensive team.

Ellis has all the tools to project as a potential "3-and-D" wing at the next level. He took 5.5 3-pointers per game last season in head coach Nate Oats' offense, which emphasizes looks behind the arc, knocking them down at a 36.6-percent clip.

"We play the same way so it's an easy translation to the NBA," Ellis said of his college experience. "Going out there, playing kind of the same way, shooting threes (or) if you don't have it, running off the line finding the next open shooter. I definitely think it's a great system to play in."

The 20-year-old Lewis is testing the waters after a breakout sophomore season at Marquette. He has until the June 1 deadline for underclassmen to withdraw their names from the draft to decide whether he wants to stay in or head back to school for another year.

Lewis was named the Big East's Most Improved Player last season, increasing his scoring from 7.8 points per game as a freshman to 16.8 as a sophomore and his rebounding from 5.4 boards per contest to 7.9. He also made significant strides as a shooter - after going 7-for-32 (21.9 percent) from 3-point range as a freshman, he went 58-for-166 (34.9 percent) last season.

He led the Big East in scoring in conference play at 18.2 points per game, highlighted by a 23-point, 11-rebound performance in a blowout win over 16th-ranked Providence on Jan. 4 and a 33-point, nine-board, six-assist outing in a victory at Seton Hall on Jan. 26.

Lewis received an invite to last week's combine, where he impressed in the physical testing with his 7-2 wingspan and 35-inch vertical. While he's still undecided on his future plans, Lewis feels he's impressing NBA teams in the audition process.

"They're getting a pitch on my versatility," Lewis said. "I can play three through five, I can guard one through five. I bring a lot of versatility to the game."