Following a night off for the NBA and a night full of confetti for the Villanova Wildcats, LeBron James gave his two cents on last night’s championship game and the star of the show — sixth man Donte DiVincenzo.
DiVincenzo was the unlikely star of the show, later crowned with the Most Outstanding Player award of the NCAA’s Final Four, dropping a career-high 31 points, the most for a player coming off the bench in NCAA title history.
“Listen, that kid, he was on fire,” James said, according to ESPN’s Dave McMenamin. “But he did it in an all (-around way). First of all, he made himself a lot of money…He made himself a lot of money last night and not because of the way he was shooting, but he was doing it all. He was getting into the lane, and-1s. Backdoors. Lobs. Verticality with Matthews at the peak, showing his athleticism. And then when the game started to kind of get (close) when Michigan cut it to 12, boom, he hits another backbreaker.”
DiVincenzo was part of a star-studded team with NBA-quality prospects, the likes of Mikal Bridges and Jalen Brunson, who was named the Naismith and Associated Press’ Player of the Year, yet his all-around game propelled a Villanova team that had gone an ice-cold 1-of-9 from the 3-point line before he checked into the game midway through the first half.
Some scouts are claiming that having this big a game at this stage has done wonders for his NBA Draft stock — potentially putting him in the realm of a first-round selection — hence James’ claims for him making a lot of money.
Besides the likely endorsement opportunities he’s bound to get locally if he chooses to declare for June’s draft, DiVincenzo can be looking at a career in the pros and could carve himself a niche as a five-tool player, adding five rebounds, three assists, and two highlight-reel blocks to a 10-of-15 shooting night from the field, along with 5-of-7 long-range bombs that broke the game apart for the Wildcats.