Getty Ty Jerome #11 of the Virginia Cavaliers shoots in the second half during a game against the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets.
Virginia infamously is the only No. 1 seed to fall to a 16, dropping last year’s contest to Maryland-Baltimore County by 20 in Charlotte. At 3:10 p.m. EST in Columbia (S.C.), the Cavaliers will try to make sure ignominious history doesn’t repeat itself against Gardner-Webb.
Junior guard Ty Jerome should be one of the reasons to breathe easy. He is the point man for the nation’s No. 2 efficiency offense per Ken Pomeroy. In a tough road game at Syracuse, he dissected the 2-3 matchup zone with a 16-point and 14-assist double-double for a 79-53 blowout win.
The 6-foot-5, 195-pounder excels in several areas. He averages 13 points, 5.4 assists and 4.1 rebounds a game. He shoots 39.7 percent from behind the arc. He turns the ball over on just 13.7 percent of possessions (top-400 nationally). On defense, he doesn’t foul and notches over a steal per contest.
A few projections place him in the first round of this summer’s NBA Draft. Let’s take a look at these prognostications:
Ty Jerome NBA Draft Projections & Mock Draft
Let’s start with the most optimistic take. NBA Draft Net has Jerome going No. 28 to Golden State in its most recent mock draft, meaning he would be a defensive pairing in the backcourt with Steph Curry.
Jeremy Woo of SI.com is more pessimistic, placing him as a second-rounder and the No. 38 overall prospect.
Although Jerome isn’t exactly an eye-test player, he has legit size and does a little bit of everything on the perimeter. He can play on or off the ball, shoots it well off the catch and can use ball screens to generate offense. He does an overall good job defensively in Virginia’s system, as well. Jerome sometimes struggles finishing and attacking the paint, but his ability to consistently hit threes coupled with a well-rounded skill set should make him a viable role player. Big guards who can move the ball and knock down jumpers without being a zero defensively tend to be useful commodities, and he has found ways to overachieve at each step of his career. Jerome is an interesting bet in this range.
Our own Jon Adams left Jerome off his most recent mock draft. Bryan Kalbrosky of Hoops Hype lists him as the No. 28 overall prospect on his updated aggregate mock draft. The rankings range from late first-round to early second.
Ty Jerome NBA Draft Big Board Rankings
On Aran Smith’s NBA Draft Net’s list of 100 players, Jerome is his 26th best player. ESPN’s NBA Draft Board lists him as the No. 30 “best player available” and the No. 8 shooting guard (7 spots behind Duke freshman R.J. Barrett).
In 2 games against the Blue Devils, Jerome struggled to contain Barrett.
In the first game back on Jan. 19, Jerome and company ceded 30 points on 13 shots, with 9 Barrett field goals inside the arc. In the second outing, the Duke frosh ripped his way to 26 points on 6 triples. Even at Jerome’s height, players of Barrett’s 6-foot-7 frame and athleticism are able to take advantage.
With that said, the Cavalier guard put up a pair of efficient offensive games. He only needed 24 combined shots to reach 30 total points. He doesn’t get enough credit for his ability to generate baskets.
A big night against Gardner-Webb only stems the jokes about the historic loss in 2018. To Jerome to truly move the needle on draft boards, he will need to drive the Cavalier offense deep into the NCAA Tournament.
Contests against high-profile teams such as Tennessee in the Elite 8, North Carolina in the Final Four or Duke in the title game would do the trick.