Getty Images Oregon's Bol Bol is taking the league by storm.
As the NCAA Basketball season tipped off a couple of weeks back, all of the national hype has surrounded Duke’s, Zion Williamson. Obviously, the ridiculous highlight reel dunks from the freak athlete have basketball fans going crazy, but now NCAA fans are beginning to shift their attention to Oregon Ducks’ big man, Bol Bol.
The 19-year-old Freshman Center is listed as seven-feet-two-inches, and he can honestly do it all. As some are worried about his ability to translate to the pro’s since he has a very lean frame, he sure makes up for it with his ability to drain shots from beyond-the-arc. It takes a lot more than being tall and aggressive to make it as a center nowadays.
With all of the NBA’s best centers being able to drain jumpers consistently, Bol Bol is working on being one those multi-talented prospects early on. While everybody is trying to pump the brakes on the Bol Bol hype, it’s merely difficult. Seeing a player of his size, do the things that not all big men can do is always surprising still at the higher levels of basketball.
A Hot Start to the Season for the Ducks
The Oregon Ducks have wrapped up their fifth game of the young season on Tuesday, as they defeated Green Bay. Their victory on Tuesday helped the Ducks advance their record to 4-1. Bol finished the night with 21 points, nine rebounds and a block. Not bad as a follow-up performance as he drained 26 points to help the Ducks destroy the No. 15 ranked Syracuse Orange.
His 21 point effort against Green Bay had everybody talking since it was the game that featured his ‘Steph Curry Pullup’ shot. Although Bol is who everybody is talking about on social media for that one play, his three-point shot was just one-of-one on Tuesday.
From three this season, he is three of seven through the first five games. It would be a little over the top to label Bol Bol as one of the ‘Unicorns’ in basketball, but the potential is one-hundred percent there. Will the Oregon big man live up to the pressure? Or will he burn out in the spotlight early on? There’s still plenty of basketball left to be played, but looking at Oregon’s future competition, Bol Bol is definitely set up for a long stretch of dominance for the next couple of months.