NBA Draft: Princeton's Tosan Evbuomwan, Rutgers' Caleb McConnell sign free-agent contracts

For a college basketball devotee, the NBA Draft is a perplexing experience.

General managers seem to value youth and mystery over maturity and accomplishment (see: top overall pick Ben Simmons vs. second-rounder Jalen Brunson). The object is to win, but prolific winning as a collegian – surely a skill – is rarely considered an asset.

So it’s not shocking that Princeton University standout Tosan Evbuomwan went undrafted Thursday. But you can write this in stone: By signing the 6-foot-8, 220-pound point forward to a free-agent contract shortly after the draft, the Detroit Pistons got a steal.

With a playmaker’s handle and court vision in a forward’s body, an ability to score at all three levels and the versatility to defend different positions – plus great character and work ethic – Evbuomwan compares favorably to the last New Jersey college player who got drafted. Seton Hall forward Sandro Mamukelashvili, chosen with the 54th pick, just wrapped up his second NBA season by averaging 10.8 points, 6.8 rebounds and 2.4 assists with the Spurs.

Here is a quick rundown of what the Pistons are getting in Evbuomwan (pronounced Uh-WOAH-MA):

-- Averaged 15.1 points, 6.3 rebounds and 4.9 assists while initiating much of Princeton’s potent offense. "Tosan's passing, you won't see that again at Princeton for 50 years," Princeton coach Mitch Henderson said.

-- As a senior in 2022-23, led Princeton to a 23-9 record, the Ivy League title and a run to the NCAA Tournament’s Sweet 16 – the program’s first since 1967 and the Ivy’s first since 2010.

-- In the Ivy League Tournament semis, he shut down Penn star Jordan Dingle, a 6-3 guard who is now at St. John’s. In the NCAA second-round romp of Missouri, he erased 6-8 All-SEC forward Kobe Brown. Two totally different, high-impact players, and Tosan made them both disappear.

-- In the NCAA Tournament first-round stunner over second-seeded Arizona, he carved the Wildcats up off the dribble. In the Tigers’ Sweet 16 loss to Creighton, he scored 24 points, handed out nine assists and drilled two 3-pointers.

-- He is 22 years old but he grew up playing soccer in England (where his father, a former soccer player, is a gynecologist) and came to the hardwood relatively late. He first took up hoops at 14 and had to petition his high school to create a basketball team, enlisting a rugby coach to supervise it.

-- He has an economics degree and his senior thesis explored how diversity in executive management in the NBA affects team performance. As pointed out by recent Orlando Magic guard Devin Cannady – the only Princeton alum to break into the NBA in the past 20 years – Tosan’s growth potential with basketball as his full-time job is high. At Princeton, academics came first.

-- He’s not athletically explosive in the classic sense, but three high-majors loaded with stars couldn’t stop him with the ball in his hands in the Big Dance. Ask those coaches if he’s got a place in the NBA.

Tosan Evbuomwan wasn’t on anyone's draft board, which is no surprise given the skewed priorities of too many GMs. But he's found a footing with the Pistons, and they’ll be better off for it.

Rutgers' McConnell signs with Oklahoma City

You could say the Oklahoma City Thunder got a steal by signing Rutgers guard Caleb McConnell to an Exhibit 10 free-agent contract -- 221 steals, to be exact.

The Scarlet Knights' career steals leader, a two-time Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year, will play with the Thunder's summer-league team in the hope of catching on with the franchise. An Exhibit 10 is a basic free-agent deal that can be converted to the more lucrative two-way contract before the start of the regular season if McConnell performs well enough over the next three months.

It would be foolish to bet against him. Lightly recruited out of high school, the 6-foot-6 McConnell was the quintessential warrior, overcoming a series of injuries to become one of college basketball's best perimeter defenders. As a postgrad in 2022-23 he averaged 9.1 points, 5.5 rebounds, 3.1 assists and 2.5 steals per game. He routinely defended three different positions.

Over five years with the Scarlet Knights, McConnell helped the program reach two NCAA Tournaments and an NIT after a 15-year postseason drought. In their first-round Big Dance win over Clemson in 2021, he posted 13 points and 10 boards off the bench. In Rutgers' 2022 First Four loss to Notre Dame, he scored 23 points on 10-of-12 shooting and grabbed 11 rebounds.

He was a gamer, as Oklahoma City will find out soon enough.

Jersey boys drafted

Dariq Whitehead: The Brooklyn Nets picked the Newark native and Duke shooting guard in the first round with the 22nd overall pick. He averaged 8.3 points as a freshman with the Blue Devils.

Seth Lundy: The guard from Paulsboro, who attended high school in Philadelphia and starred at shooting guard for Penn State, was chosen in the second round (46th overall) by the Atlanta Hawks.

Isaiah Wong: The point guard, who grew up in South Brunswick and attended Notre Dame High School for two years, was drafted in the second round (55th overall) by the Indiana Pacers after leading Miami to the Final Four.

Jerry Carino has covered the New Jersey sports scene since 1996 and the college basketball beat since 2003. He is an Associated Press Top 25 voter. Contact him at jcarino@gannettnj.com.

This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: NBA: Princeton's Evbuomwan, Rutgers' McConnell sign free-agent deals