Flash Forward: Villanova's Cam Whitmore
After an explosive showing in the FIBA U18 Games, Whitmore is a fast riser up 2023 draft boards
It’s time to look forward!
We’ve got almost a year until the 2023 NBA Draft, but getting a head start on the prospects coming into college helps us hit the ground running when the season starts in November. This Summer and into the Fall, we’ll be doing some deep dives on fascinating prospects who are either international targets next year or one-and-done contenders coming into the collegiate ranks. The goal with these breakdowns is simple: provide a measuring stick for where they are at the time they enter, frame their draft stock for what they may need to improve to rise up boards and help provide a window to peer through into how we go about the evaluation process.
The idea for a series like this is directly inspired by the results of the 2022 NBA Draft. Some guys — like Patrick Baldwin Jr., Peyton Watson, and Shaedon Sharpe — got drafted in the first round this year based partially on their high school and AAU film, reputations, and preseason buzz. The teams that drafted them felt comfortable enough with what they saw at those levels to overlook poor seasons (PBJ and Watson) or nonexistent ones (Sharpe). If NBA Draft scouting is so heavily reliant on pre-college film to provide context, we should be putting more effort during the off-season to master what each prospect put together ahead of their college career.
Few prospects have had a better last 14 months than Cam Whitmore. The Archbishop Spalding (MD) high school player had a strong senior season, even when interrupted slightly by an ankle injury (no comment on whose home court that injury happened on). Whitmore was a standout for the Team Melo AAU program, had a great showing with Team USA during the U18 America Games this summer, and has quickly risen up draft boards as a potential top-10 prospect.
The hype doesn’t stop there. Sam Vecenie of The Athletic and my partner over at the Game Theory Podcast put him third on his first 2023 mock draft. Whitmore is tailor-made for the NBA game with his size and build, athletic pop, and the additions of skill he’s layered to his game.
Background
Whitmore is quiet by nature. He’s super strong and the highlight-reel dunker in any gym he walks into, but he doesn’t command the spotlight with his personality. He’s a well-rounded kid from the Baltimore area. He maintains a 3.0 GPA, plays the baritone saxophone, and is grounded in his faith.
Whitmore did not play as a freshman in high school due to injury but turned heads with a ridiculous performance to breakout as a sophomore. Then COVID happened and took away much of his U16 AAU season, as well as his junior season in high school. The doses we could see of improvement and physical work were impressive, but it really wasn’t until the summer of 2021 when he truly burst out as a legitimate top prospect.
Armed with an improving jumper and chiseled physique, Whitmore ran through the AAU season for Team Melo. He received offers from the top programs in the country, ultimately deciding on Villanova for the culture the school provides. Cam has always been a good teammate.
A little anecdote from this year that shows why we believe in Whitmore off the court. This year, Whitmore’s team traveled to play our program and came to our gym. The JV game was on first, and the varsity team arrived early to watch the JV contest — even before our team got to the gym to watch, as is customary. Only their team sat on the wrong side of the gym: behind our JV bench instead of their own.
Our captains asked them to move to the appropriate side, and several of them, with headphones on and with no desire to accommodate, refused to move. They were eating Chick-Fil-A and not moving. Whitmore, plugged in with his chicken sandwich and headphones to the side, likely had no idea what requests were being made.
…until I approached him and got involved. I explained to Cam that his team’s designated spot for pregame was on the other end behind his team’s bench. Without saying a word, he got up, packed his things, and motioned to everyone else to head over to the other side. They followed, and Cam was the last one to walk over, cleaning up all the Chick-Fil-A wrappers and sauce containers his teammates left behind.
Film Study
At 6’7” and 220 pounds, Whitmore is that positionless prospect who has an inside and outside game. On the defensive end, he can stand out because he guards nearly any type of player. He’s fast, bursty and quick-twitch enough to defend on the periemter. His strength means he can guard up to the 4.
But what about his actual skill level pops out for his usage on the offensive end? Can he be a top-tier creator at the NBA level, or is he just a superb athlete that overwhelms guys as a result?
From a skill perspective, Whitmore brings a great first step to the table along with a really improved shooting stroke. That combination makes him really difficult to defend. Watch a lot of film on Whitmore and you’ll notice that players sag off him a lot. That isn’t an indictment on his shooting, but a show of respect for his driving. Whitmore is so imposing, physical and explosive with that first step that primary defenders give him more cushion so they don’t get blown by.