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NBA Draft: Arizona Basketball Rawle Alkins killed it at the Combine

By Shereen Rayan

Mar 23, 2017; San Jose, CA, USA; Arizona Wildcats guard Rawle Alkins (1) signals to his teammates as they play against the Xavier Musketeers during the first period in the semifinals of the West Regional of the 2017 NCAA Tournament at SAP Center. Xavier Musketeers defeated the Arizona Wildcats 73-71. Mandatory Credit: Stan Szeto-USA TODAY Sports
Mar 23, 2017; San Jose, CA, USA; Arizona Wildcats guard Rawle Alkins (1) signals to his teammates as they play against the Xavier Musketeers during the first period in the semifinals of the West Regional of the 2017 NCAA Tournament at SAP Center. Xavier Musketeers defeated the Arizona Wildcats 73-71. Mandatory Credit: Stan Szeto-USA TODAY Sports /
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Arizona Basketball guard Rawle Alkins hit the NBA Pre-Draft Combine with a huge splash, and people are talking!

“He’s not ready,” they said, “He’s not tall enough,” they said, “He needs to come back to school,” they said. Yeah, well maybe he does need to go back to school, but that’s up Rawle Alkins to decide. He pretty much swept the floor with the rest of the draftees he played with today, so that’s one thing to consider. Sean Miller has to be smiling right now, even if it hurts.

Alkins may even be changing some people’s minds about their original thoughts. Like Ari Alexander, Sports Anchor/Reporter KVOA News 4 Tucson.

Hmm, that ESPN expert, what was his name? Oh yeah, ESPN Jeff Goodman! He wrote that one NBA Executives of “Every single NBA Executive interviewed” said, “I love how hard he plays, but he doesn’t really have a position.” How many Executives did he interview? He didn’t get back to us, but that doesn’t matter, what matters is how Alkins responded.

Alkins performance even got former UCLA Bruin Lonzo Ball to take notice!

Alkins scored more points than any player on the floor in the first scrimmage game. He scored 18 points (two for five from three) making 70 percent of his field goals, grabbed five rebounds, two assists, and one steal. Alkins plus/minus was a +10 best on his team, in 21:19 minutes.

Arizona Daily Star Basketball guru Bruce Pascoe got a chance to catch up with Alkins to see how it’s going. He found out where Alkins was on his possible return to Arizona, given that he performed so well during the scrimmage.

“I’m considering coming back to school 100 percent, and I’m considering entering the draft 100 percent, so it’s 50/50,” explained Rawle. Asked what the pros of going back to school would be, Alkins answered, “There’s too many.”

As far as a top performer day one? Yes, that was Alkins among three other Pac-12 players in the top ten.

But why should we speculate? Maybe we should just relax and review what the Twitter-verse had to say about our Wildcat today. Here’s more Twitter reaction:

As a Wildcat fan, it’s a hard road to travel seeing players you fall in love with move on. So even the thought of it is heartbreaking to the player as well as the fans and coaches.

You want the best for these young men, but you also want more time to relish in their glory. We all wish we were still in college, that time never comes around again in quite the same way once you leave.

If anyone has their head on straight in this whole process, it is Alkins. High School recruits should heed his advice, which sounds a lot like Arizona QB Khalil Tate, why worry about the competition? Just go out there and do your thing!

Must Read: More Rawle Alkins from ZZ....

Whether he stays or goes, he will always be our Wildcat for life. Again, he will make a good decision. He is taking his time and relishing the moment. Good for him!

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