Richaun Holmes NBA Draft Profile

Holmes is primed to be an "elite shot blocker" at the NBA level.

By Alex Alvarado@ARAlvarado13 Jun 25, 2015, 4:35pm EDT

Could there be an NBA draftee for the first time since 2003? If there is, it'll be Richaun Holmes.

The former Bowling Green Falcons forward had a great career in his three years. At 6-foot-8, 243 pounds (per DraftExpress), Holmes is the only player in Falcons history to record over 1,000 points, 600 rebounds and 200 blocks. He's the all-time school leader in blocked shots with 244 with a single-season school record of 88 blocks as a junior. He's also second and third on that same list with 83 blocks his senior year and 73 his sophomore season. I smell a trend.

The 2014-2015 MAC Defensive Player of the Year and First Team All-MAC honoree was also the MAC's best in field-goal percentage in his senior season with a 56.3 percent clip while shooting 71.2 percent at the free throw line. He's not going to be a "stretch four," but he will score from under the rim and shoot a fairly inconsistent jumper. But in moments when the strongest player on the floor needs to make an impact, he shines the brightest.

Holmes' college career after graduating from Lockport High School in Lockport, Illinois began at Moraine Valley Community College. He and high school teammate Karrington Ward (now former Eastern Michigan forward) both went to MVCC together that year and became NJCAA Division II First Team All-Americans. That year, Holmes averaged 19.3 points, 9.3 rebounds and 5.3 blocks per game.

DraftExpress' mock draft has Richaun Holmes being the 49th pick. NBADraft.net says that Holmes has solidified himself as a surefire second round pick in the draft. It's very likely that Holmes will get his name called tonight and has been very active with teams in workouts leading up to this. He even told the Toledo Blade that he's worked out with 15 or 16 teams. Various CBS staff mock drafts have Holmes going 48th (Gary Parrish), 51st (Sam Vecinie) and 56th (Sam Parker) overall.

Sports Illustrated's Jake Fischer even wrote a nice feature on Holmes and how he could be a potential NBA sleeper pick:

In Moraine Valley's 81-61 first round win over Oakton in the 2012 NJCAA Region IV first round, Holmes jumped a passing lane at the top of the key and raced down court for a reverse, windmill jam—an acrobatic feat most players might shy from in a dunk contest, let alone in a live game.

"We all just kind of looked at each other like, ‘What in the world was that?'" says Shannon, now an assistant coach at Division II Oklahoma Panhandle State. "You don't see big guys move like that. It just showed how special he was."

We recently looked at potential landing spots for Holmes. Five teams that we mentioned to take him include the Utah Jazz, Washington Wizards, New Orleans Pelicans, Milwaukee Bucks and Orlando Magic.

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How to watch, stream: The NBA Draft in Brooklyn, New York begins at 7pm (EST). The draft can be seen on ESPN, and is being streamed on the NBA's website which can be found here.

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