James Ennis, Long Beach State: Ennis played at a couple of JCs before enrolling in LBSU as a junior for the 2011-12 season. He was a star at the JC level, scoring over 1000 points in his 2 years, winning first team all-conference honors as a freshman at Oxnard College and as a sophomore at Ventura College. He also high jumped 6’11”, which shows he’s a pretty darned good athlete. I don’t have any comprehensive JC stats, so I’ll just post the numbers for his two seasons at LBSU:
His junior year he came to a 49er team that was dominated by 3 seniors, Casper Ware, Larry Anderson and TJ Robinson. Ennis finished 4th in scoring as a junior, but was a very efficient scorer and a much better passer. With the core of the team gone, Ennis took over the scoring lead as a senior, keeping his efficiency and defense solid. The passing did decline some.
What I look for when I look at the entire career of a player like Ennis is whether extenuating circumstances kept him from emerging as a prospect until his senior year, or if the senior year was something of an aberration, making it possible it was a little more of a fluke. In Ennis’s case I think it’s clear there were circumstances that kept him hidden. Playing at a junior college, even if a player excels as Ennis did for two seasons, keeps any player out of the spotlight. His first year at LBSU, he played a supporting role to 3 seniors who were entrenched as the core and excelled, hitting 66% of his 2-pointers, while defending and passing well. As a senior he finally stepped into the lead role and was one of the best SFs in the nation. The fact that he excelled in whatever role he was in, be it JC star, super role player, or lead scorer tells me that James Ennis probably could have stood out immediately at any college program and there’s nothing fluky or surprising about his great senior year.
So how good of a prospect is James Ennis? Defense is his strength. In his 2 seasons at LBSU he was over 2.0 S40 and 1.0 B40 both years. His long wingspan just adds to the potential. He’s also something of a sleeper as a scorer, with a couple seasons of incredible 2PP marks and a solid 35% from behind the arc. It would be nice if he were a more aggressive scorer though. He only tied for the team lead in FG attempts, despite leading the team in scoring by a significant margin. I would also like him better if the rebound rate were a little higher. He’s also a smidge older than most seniors, turning 23 a week after the draft.
Using the low end/high end game, at the very least James Ennis looks like a quality NBA defender capable of hitting the 3-pointer at an acceptable rate. That in itself is a player worthy of a round one look. His high end is an all-star SF. That’s a long shot at this point, but considering his defense and the potential he has shown as a scorer it is one well worth taking at some point in the 2nd half of round one. James Ennis is one of the sleepers of the 2013 draft.
