WKU Basketball: Charles Bassey Drafted By Philadelphia 76ers #53 Overall In 2021 NBA Draft
In the second round of the 2021 NBA Draft, former WKU center Charles Bassey heard his named called by the Philadelphia 76ers with the 53rd overall pick in the draft.
Bassey averaged 17.6 points and 11.6 rebounds in his junior year last season for the Tops and averaged 15.9 points and 10.5 rebounds in his career on the Hill. Along with averaging a double-double, he also averaged 2.6 blocks in his career and shot over 30% from deep (most of those attempts and makes came in his last season).
Along with the stats, he won and was nominated for a plethora of awards both conference wise and nationally. He was a two time Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Award finalist and won C-USA Player of the Year last season.
At 6’11 and 235 lbs, he has a great athletic frame for the NBA and with some further development (likely in the G-League or in limited minutes) he could become a role player for the 76ers. I definitely feel like if he has a future at the center position, he’ll still need to bulk up quite a bit but his upside is still pretty big with him only being 20 years old. His shot blocking, rebounding, and athleticism is still exceptional for his size. Thankfully he has a new teammate in Joel Embiid who is one of the best centers in the league to learn from now.
Obviously one of the reasons Bassey fell so far down the draft board was because of the injury he had his sophomore season. Had he not hyperextended his knee and had to have surgery to repair a tibial plateau fracture, he probably would’ve went pro after just two seasons at WKU. It always sucks seeing a player as talented as him go down like that but he was able to fully recover, bounce back, and have career highs the following year.
Bassey now becomes the most recent Hilltopper NBA draftee since Jeremy Evans was drafted #55 overall by the Utah Jazz in 2010 (no, we aren’t counting Mitchell Robinson and we never will). Courtney Lee was waived by the Dallas Mavericks at the end of 2020 so Bassey is currently the only active former Hilltopper in the NBA. Bassey is also the 36th player from WKU that has been drafted by an NBA team all-time.
We are all excited for Bassey and are glad he is the next #ProTops player in the NBA. Seeing his story of where he came from, what he went through, and where he is now is already an amazing success story but I hope with tonight, it’s just the beginning of his story and success.
We’ll have more content on his pro career and how he could fit in with the 76ers later down the road so be sure to keep up with us on Facebook as well as our Twitter and Instagram accounts as we follow Bassey’s journey in the NBA.
