McLemore shows off athleticism at NBA combine

By Matt Tait     May 17, 2013

Related story

Nick Krug
Kansas guard Ben McLemore finishes the game with a windmill dunk against San Jose State during the second half on Monday, Nov. 26, 2012 at Allen Fieldhouse.

McLemore speaks about AAU coach, agent allegations

On Thursday in Chicago former Kansas University men’s basketball star Ben McLemore went through a series of question-and-answer interviews with potential NBA employers.

On Friday, he got to let his skills do the talking.

Day 2 of the NBA’s pre-draft combine featured McLemore and dozens of other draft hopefuls working through a series of on-the-court tests that will in some small way help determine where they are slotted in the June 27 draft.

Not surprisingly, McLemore, whose height officially was measured at 6-4 3/4 (with shoes) on Thursday, was one of the top shooting guards to test at the combine.

His maximum vertical jump of 42 inches tied him for first at his position. His standing vertical jump of 32.5 inches placed him third and his three-quarter-court sprint of 3.27 seconds tied him for fifth.

In addition, the athletic wing who led the Jayhawks in scoring during the 2012-13 season finished fourth in 3.11 seconds in the modified lane agility test (side-to-side and back through the lane) and ninth in the full-scale lane agility test, which incorporates all four sides of the paint and the player’s ability to backpedal.

In an interview with ESPN’s Andy Katz following his Friday performance, McLemore sized up what he thought he did well.

“Today, just my athleticism and my quickness,” McLemore told Katz. “That’s the main thing. That’s what you want to have going to the next level. All the NBA teams know I can score the ball and other things like that, and (showing athleticism and quickness) was what I got in today and this week.”

Katz also inquired about the individual interviews. Although they became redundant, McLemore said most team reps wanted to talk about his past.

“The kinds of questions they were asking me were basically to try to get to know me, my personality, what I do off the court, basically my surroundings and my background,” he said. “They want to know what I can do to better the team. A lot of teams were asking me the same things, but I just told them that I’d go in, play my role and try to help them win more games. Just go out there and play my game with an open mind and a free mind.”

ESPN NBA analyst Tom Penn said the interviews were the most important part of the process for a well-known athlete like McLemore, who did not participate in drills and is expected to be picked in the Top 3.

“So much of what goes on here is the eyeball-to-eyeball contact you can have with these (athletes),” Penn said during the broadcast. “You talk to him and you can see that Ben is a kid, a young kid. He comes across much less sophisticated. That’s good in that there’s development that’s gonna come and a lot of growth, but you compare him to a (Indiana forward Cody) Zeller or other interviews where you can see that (other guys are) more of a grown man and more mature. The sweet spot is when you get to a kid with tremendous athleticism who’s also a grown man and ready to come help. But, of course, you can’t get it all at once.”

Withey works out

Former Jayhawk Jeff Withey also completed athletic tests at Friday’s combine in Chicago.

Withey’s marks — maximum vertical jump of 29 inches, standing jump of 26.5 inches — paled in comparison to other center prospects’, including Indiana 7-footer Cody Zeller’s 37.5-inch max vertical and 35.5-inch standing jumps.

Withey didn’t stand out during workouts, either, according to DraftExpress.com’s Jonathan Givony.

“Jeff Withey clearly more of a 5 on 5 guy,” Givony tweeted Friday. “Body doesn’t look great compared to other big men, and he hasn’t been so impressive in the drills.”

Before the combine, DraftExpress.com predicted Withey would be selected with the 19th overall pick. On Wednesday, ESPN’s Chad Ford wrote that Withey could be drafted in the “19-25 range.”

Self honored at Vitale gala

Sarasota, Fla. — Kansas University basketball coach Bill Self was among the celebrities from the world of sports and entertainment who crowded the Ritz-Carlton Sarasota on Friday for the Eighth Annual Dick Vitale Gala to raise money in the fight against pediatric cancer through The V Foundation for Cancer Research. The event honored Self, former Florida State University and Hall of Fame football coach Bobby Bowden and former University of Connecticut and Hall of Fame basketball coach Jim Calhoun.

The sold-out Gala hosted more than 800 people and featured over 70 celebrities.

PREV POST

Chiefs sign KU football's Opurum as fullback

NEXT POST

42617McLemore shows off athleticism at NBA combine

Author Photo

Written By Matt Tait

A native of Colorado, Matt moved to Lawrence in 1988 and has been in town ever since. He graduated from Lawrence High in 1996 and the University of Kansas in 2000 with a degree in Journalism. After covering KU sports for the University Daily Kansan and Rivals.com, Matt joined the World Company (and later Ogden Publications) in 2001 and has held several positions with the paper and KUsports.com in the past 20+ years. He became the Journal-World Sports Editor in 2018. Throughout his career, Matt has won several local and national awards from both the Associated Press Sports Editors and the Kansas Press Association. In 2021, he was named the Kansas Sportswriter of the Year by the National Sports Media Association. Matt lives in Lawrence with his wife, Allison, and two daughters, Kate and Molly. When he's not covering KU sports, he likes to spend his time playing basketball and golf, listening to and writing music and traveling the world with friends and family.