Cal: Tyrone Wallace’s stock was higher in last year’s NBA draft, but he’s happy he returned for his degree.
Basketball wasn’t at the front of Tyrone Wallace’s mind in the spring of 2015 when he spurned the NBA draft to return for his senior year. The Cal point guard was more focused on becoming the first person in his family to graduate from college, a promise he had made to his late grandfather.
“I don’t regret my decision at all,” Wallace said in March, two months before earning his degree in social welfare. “Graduating from Cal is a big deal to me.”
So on Thursday night, even if he doesn’t hear his name called during the 2016 NBA draft, Wallace won’t dwell on what-ifs. Knowing he already accomplished his top objective would ease the sting of settling for a summer-league roster or heading overseas.
Little more than a year after he was projected to go late in the first round or early in the second, Wallace is listed on no major NBA mock drafts. DraftExpress.com has him as the 60-pick draft’s 71st overall prospect, and CBS Sports pencils him in as the No. 19 point guard.
It is a curious development for a player who helped guide the Bears this spring to the best NCAA Tournament seed in program history. Wallace raised his field-goal and free-throw percentages, leading Cal with 15.3 points, 4.4 assists and 1 steal per game. He left the Bears, who have produced nine firstround draft picks, as the only player ranked among the top 10 in scoring, assists and steals.
“It’s probably a little less than a 50-50 chance of him getting drafted,” said Aran Smith, president of NBADraft.net. “There was definitely a lot of intrigue with him going into the year, but he didn’t end the season well and hasn’t gotten rave reviews in workouts.”
Wallace emerged as a bona fide NBA prospect when, as a junior, he led the Bears in five major statistical categories. As the first-team All Pac-12 selection contemplated turning pro, he reflected on his grandfather. Charles Johnson, who died of issues related to diabetes the previous summer, had wanted Wallace to demonstrate the importance of education to his younger siblings and cousins.
In April 2015, three days before the deadline to declare, Wallace announced his intention to come back for his final season of eligibility. Beyond personal priorities, it was a decision that made sense for basketball reasons. Cal’s roster seemed poised for a deep NCAA Tournament run. Another year of college allowed Wallace time to improve his jump shot and show scouts he could run an offense.
Between late January and mid-March, he twice broke a bone in his right (non-shooting) hand. Wallace watched from home as the Bears were upset by Hawaii in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
By that point, he had one of the worst offensive ratings among college guards receiving draft consideration. Wallace, who made a career-high 1.2 threes per game as a sophomore, connected on 0.9 as a senior. His careerhigh 64.9 percent clip from the foul line was especially poor for someone who attempted 5.5 foul shots per game.
Unlike former Cal teammate Jaylen Brown, a projected top-10 pick, Wallace doesn’t make up for subpar shooting with elite athleticism. His game is built around changing speed and direction to knife into the key with either hand. Because he wasn’t invited to the NBA draft combine in Chicago last month, Wallace was left trying to assuage front offices’ concerns in individual team workouts.
“In the case of Tyrone, it’s going to be really interesting,” said a Western Conference scout who spoke under the condition of anonymity. “This draft is just so full of wind that it’s hard to evaluate where guys are going to go.”
The second round, in which contracts aren’t guaranteed, is a tricky affair for someone as old as Wallace, 22. In pursuit of a draft-day steal, teams are often more likely to take a high-risk, high-reward underclassman or an international prospect they can stash overseas than a senior with limited upside.
Getting drafted, of course, hardly ensures the full realization of an NBA dream. Twelve seniors were selected last year in the second round, five of whom are already out of the league.
“Wallace is a guy who may have to go to the D-League for a while before he really gets his chance in the NBA,” Smith said.
Worst-case scenario? There is always that Cal degree to fall back on.