Getty UNC guard Coby White
North Carolina Tar Heels stud freshman Coby White has impressed through the early stages of his collegiate career. So much so, that it will likely lead to him making the jump to the next level sooner than later. White is already being pegged as a likely first-round pick in the 2019 NBA Draft by many, although where he’s projected has been an interesting talking point.
Through the first 25 games of his collegiate career, the 6-foot-5 guard has racked up averages of 15.4 points, 4.2 assists and 3.3 rebounds per game. Although the numbers may not be as gaudy as some other guards entering the draft, White has played alongside some legitimate future NBA talent and has still stood out.
We’re going to take a look at the latest on his draft stock and current projections, as well as where White lands on current big boards.
Coby White NBA Draft Projections & Mock Draft
A number of mock drafts have pegged White somewhere around the lottery, but for the most part, he finds his name just on the outside looking in. Hoops Hype’s Bryan Kalbrosky does an aggregate mock draft which pulls rankings from five different sites in order to get a consensus projection.
According to that breakdown which features The Athletic, Sports Illustrated, ESPN, Bleacher Report and NBADraft.net, White is pegged at No. 19 overall. Among the rankings, each site has White pegged between 22-25 (with three at No. 25), but SI.com gave him the No. 16 spot.
NBADraft.net’s prediction of No. 22 for the UNC guard has him landing with the Portland Trail Blazers, which would be an interesting fit alongside Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum. In an interesting draft class for guards, as multiple young prospects have stood out or at least flashed upside, White’s potential to jump up is certainly there.
Coby White’s Ranking on NBA Draft Big Boards
The big boards seem to agree with a ranking somewhere around the late-teens or early 20’s at this point, but this can change over the coming months. After all, there’s the ACC and NCAA Tournaments to be played, along with the combine. ESPN’s NBA Draft “best available” has White as the No. 22 overall player and the No. 5 ranked shooting guard in the current class.
Beyond that, the aforementioned NBADraft.net has increased White’s ranking on the latest big board, moving up him to No. 25. This is up two spots and leaves him ahead of names such as Kentucky’s Ashton Hagans, Duke’s Tre Jones and Virginia’s Ty Jerome.
It’s unknown if White will leave this season for the NBA, but whether it does happen this year or next, whenever he does go there’ll surely be plenty of interest in his stock and outlook.
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