NEW YORK – For the second time in the last five years, a William & Mary men's basketball student-athlete was selected to take part in the NBA Draft Combine 2020. Following a standout career for the Green and Gold,
Nathan Knight '20 will be among 61 of the top pro prospects to take part in the reformatted, virtual Combine, beginning on Sept. 28 and continuing through mid-November.
The reimagined Combine will continue to provide NBA teams with player evaluation opportunities during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. As part of the NBA Draft Combine 2020, Knight and other prospects have the opportunity to participate in league and team interviews via videoconference. Participants will take part in an individual on-court program consisting of strength and agility testing, anthropometric measurements, shooting drills and a "Pro Day" video, all conducted in October at the NBA team facility nearest to a player's home or interim residence. Medical testing and examinations will be performed by NBA-affiliated physicians.
Knight joins Marcus Thornton '15 as Tribe standouts who participated in the NBA Draft Combine in the last five years. Thornton, who led the Combine in three-quarter court sprint and had the second-best max vertical leap, was drafted in the second round by the Boston Celtics in 2015. He recently signed to play in Germany for the Niners Chemnitz.
Knight flourished during his time in Williamsburg. He was named the National Mid-Major Player of the Year by a pair of publications this past season, including taking home the Lou Henson Award from CollegeInsider.com. Knight averaged 20.7 points and 10.5 rebounds per game in 2019-20, while leading the country in player efficiency rating (35.0) and ranking second in double-doubles (23). Knight became just the second player in league history to be named both the CAA Player and Defensive Player of the Year in the same season. For the second-straight season, he was also selected as one of five finalists for the Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Center of the Year Award.
In the classroom, Knight earned his degree from W&M's prestigious Raymond Mason School of Business in business analytics with a concentration in finance. Named to the Dean's List this year, he was also selected as one of 10 finalists nationally for the Senior CLASS Award, which recognizes excellence in community, classroom, character and competition.
As part of the event's innovative format, the NBA will incorporate HomeCourt, a mobile basketball training application that uses advanced machine learning and computer vision, to provide analytics and record the shooting evaluation portion of NBA Combine 2020 and for players to create a unique "Pro Day" video. HomeCourt is developed by NEX Team, Inc., an NBA strategic partner. Additionally, the NBA has expanded its use of "Combine HQ," an online tool developed by Fusion Sport in its software platform Smartabase.
NBA Draft 2020 presented by State Farm is scheduled to take place on Wednesday, Nov. 18 and will air on ESPN. The date remains subject to change as circumstances warrant.
