Getty Markus Howard #0 of the Marquette Golden Eagles attempts a shot while being guarded by Kamar Baldwin #3 of the Butler Bulldogs.
Marquette basketball knows how to pump out NBA guards, from as early as 1983 with current Clippers head coach Doc Rivers, and as recently as 2011 with Jimmy Butler. Also, 3-time NBA Champion and 13-time All-Star Dwyane Wade.
Possibly next in this Golden Eagle lineage is junior point guard Markus Howard. The 19-year old has been a nightly highlight reel out in the Big East, including 53-point and 38-point eruptions against Creighton and No. 14 Villanova.
On top of that, the 5-foot-11, 175-pounder produced 45 points in a pair of ranked games against Kansas State and Buffalo. He enters Sunday’s home rematch with Creighton (3 p.m. EST, FS1) averaging 25.3 points, 4.1 rebounds and 4 assists a contest. He’s scorching the nylon with a 43.3 percent rate from behind the arc.
Despite the production, few projections place him in the first round of this summer’s NBA Draft. Let’s take a look at these prognostications:
Markus Howard NBA Draft Projections & Mock Draft
The most recent mock draft from Rob Dauster of NBC Sports fits Howard in right at the No. 30 spot. Should the Warriors win another NBA title, he would fit in well with Golden State’s run-and-gun offensive style. Dauster could easily see Howard dropping to the second round.
Howard is a full-fledged scorer at 5-foot-11 that is one of the best shooters in the college game, but he struggles with length and athleticism and doesn’t have a clear-cut position defensively. He’s also younger than Trae Young, and it’s not smart to bet against guys that can shoot it the way he can shoot it.
Our own Jon Adams left Howard off his most recent draft board. Bryan Kalbrosky of Hoops Hype lists him as the No. 48 overall prospect on his aggregate mock draft. He pegs the Golden Eagle guard as a “top sleeper in the draft.”
As the ballhandler in a pick-and-roll offense, few collegiate players are more productive than Howard. When including passes, he has averaged 17.2 points per game in this offense. That leads all players who are in one of the Power 5 conferences as well.
Markus Howard NBA Draft Big Board Rankings
On NBA Draft Net’s list of 100 players, Howard appears in the second round as the No. 41 pick to the Sacramento Kings. If the Kings paired him with players such as center Marvin Bagley and De’Aaron Fox, he could be a Stephen Curry clone to spark that offense to greater heights in the Western Conference.
ESPN interviewed several analysts, executives and scouts to evaluate Howard’s NBA Draft prospects. The article is titled “Why 5-foot-11 Markus Howard is the nation’s most dangerous scorer,” so the testimonials were positive, needless to say. Draft Analyst Mike Schmitz compared him to a slew of elite NBA players based on his production and age.
“There’s no question Markus Howard has captured the attention of NBA scouts with his near-unprecedented production as a 19-year-old junior. Although he’ll turn 20 in March, the list of under-20 prospects to average over 25 points per game in the NCAA since 2000 is short — Michael Beasley (2008), Kevin Durant (2007), Steph Curry (2008), Trae Young (2018), Chris Clemons (2017), Keydren Clark back in 2004.
With Howard still under 20, expect him to grow and develop different facets of his game. With players like Young already scoring over 18 points a game (with just 33.4 percent shooting from 3), Howard can produce even more if he continues splashing from deep.