Month: April 2025

Georgia freshman Asa Newell will enter the 2025 NBA draft, per his agents at Excel Sports Management. Asa’s father Justin Newell also confirmed the with the Athens Banner-Herald on Wednesday that Newell is turning pro after one college season.

The Georgia basketball freshman arrived from Montverde (Fla.) Academy as one of the highest-ranked recruits in program history and leaves with a legacy of leading the Bulldogs back to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2015.

Newell, the No. 21 prospect in ESPN’s NBA draft projections, was named to the SEC All-Freshman team after averaging 15.4 points, 6.8 rebounds and 1.0 block in 29.0 minutes per game. The 6-foot-11, 220-pound Newell became the first freshman at Georgia to do that since Jumaine Jones in 1997-98, and had the highest scoring average at Georgia since Anthony Edwards 19.8 in 2019-2029. Newell said before the SEC Tournament: “I’ve always been consistent, I know my role, I know my game. That’s just what I do.”

Head coach Mike White said after the Bulldogs’ home finale: “Asa’s a great teammate. He possesses a high level of work ethic, consistency and humility. I hate to wear those words out, but it’s just the God’s honest truth. That’s just who he is. Every single day he’s the same kid. He chases every single rebound, sits in a stance, there’s no excuses.”

The NBA draft combine will be held May 11-18 in Chicago, and the draft will be June 25-26 in New York.

Editorial credit: University of College / Shutterstock.com

Memphis Grizzlies starting guard Jaylen Wells shared an update on his injuries after taking a hard fall during Tuesday’s 124-100 victory against the Charlotte Hornets.

The incident took place in the second quarter after Wells caught an outlet pass from Ja Morant and was driving towards the basket; as he jumped for a breakaway dunk, Hornets guard KJ Simpson ran under him, forcing Wells to flip and hit the floor hard on his arm and head after the midair collision. Wells remained down for eight minutes before being lifted by medical personnel onto a stretcher with his head immobilized, and taken to the hospital. Interim coach Tuomas Iisalo said at the time that Wells had movement in all of his extremities; ESPN’s Shams Charania later reported that the rookie broke his right wrist.

The game was delayed 23 minutes, with officials calling a flagrant foul 2 on Simpson for unnecessary contact upon a replay review (which comes with an automatic ejection). Simpson immediately bent down to check on Wells after the play and was visibly distraught while Wells was being tended to in the silent arena. Morant also said after the game: “It’s tough. I threw the pass and turned around and was doing our little touchdown celebration. When I got there, the first thing I saw was blood, and I’ve got a weak stomach. We’ve just got to stay with him and keep praying for him. It’s next man up. Obviously that hurts. Guys will just have to be ready.”

Wells’ father Fred provided an update saying his son was “awake and alert,” with a swollen wrist and face, jaw and back pain, and was undergoing X-rays and a CT scan. Wells later provided an update of his own, posting a photo to his Instagram story with a simple message: “Go Grizz.”

Editorial credit: rajadanish / Shutterstock.com