Andy Enfield is about to replace one lottery pick with another.
Just weeks before former USC big man Onyeka Okongwu is expected to be a high pick in the 2020 NBA Draft, Enfield is bullish on his replacement — five-star freshman Evan Mobley.
“Evan’s basketball IQ is extremely high,” Enfield said of the 7-foot Mobley on Tuesday. “He’s got great hands and touch around the basket. He can also shoot it. He has elements of both Anthony Davis and Kevin Durant in his game. Anthony Davis changed the game defensively at Kentucky and Evan will be able to do that. He’s not quite the scorer that Kevin Durant was when he was a freshman at Texas, but he can put it on the floor.”
Mobley was the top ranked post player in the 2020 class and is projected to be a lottery pick in the 2021 NBA Draft. One of his most underrated attributes according to Enfield, is his ability to facilitate.
“Evan is a terrific passer at 7-feet tall,” Enfield said of Mobley. “He had seven assists the other day in a scrimmage. He can make plays for other people. You can’t say that about many big guys.”
But will he have a supporting cast?
That’s the million dollar question right now around the Galen Center.
Mobley’s brother Isaiah should be cemented as USC’s starting power forward while sophomore Ethan Anderson is the incumbent at point guard. Max Agbonkpolo is a candidate for major minutes on the wing along with San Jose State transfer Noah Baumann.
Enfield is also expecting contributions up front from freshman Boubacar Coulibaly and Chevez Goodwin, a grad transfer from Wofford. Two other grad transfers — Tahj Eaddy (Santa Clara) and Isaiah White (Utah Valley) — figure to command minutes as well.
The epicenter of everything though will be Evan Mobley, who hopes to give USC comparable rim protection to what it boasted a year ago when it started Okongwu and Nick Rakocevic up front. The Trojans finished 22-9 last season and would have been a tough out in the NCAA Tournament had it not been cancelled due to COVID-19.
All three of the team’s final opponents were held to 61 points or less.
“We were playing great defense at the end of last year,” Enfield said. “I don’t know if we can hit those same numbers or not with this team, but our interior defense should be strong again. We’re going to be able to challenge shots and that’s because of Evan. He can change the game defensively.”
