There simply aren’t many college basketball players who look like Alkins. He arrived at Arizona having never lifted weights and was 6-5, 245 pounds with 18 percent body fat. With Arizona’s weight program, he’s now down to 7 percent body fat and a muscular 220 pounds. The versatile Alkins can play guard or small forward; he might be Arizona’s best rebounder. The freshman is averaging 11.1 points, 5.0 rebounds and 2.1 assists per game. Draft Express projects him as a second-round pick in 2018, with room to rise.
Jackson-Cartwright: “I mean, he’s strong to the point where if he hits you he doesn’t know he’s that strong. He doesn’t bully people, he’s just strong. He’s not so much imposing his will, he’s just running through you.”
Mike Schmitz, DraftExpress analyst: “He’s a tough kid. He’s been really good for them. … He has the strength and he has the length. He’s a good athlete in transition, but in the halfcourt, when the floor is shrunk, he’s a heavy kid so it’s tough for that to translate. He’s not a jet with the ball. He’s going to need to continue to improve his skill level, become a knock-down shooter and really carve out a niche because I think he can do a little bit of everything, but he maybe doesn’t have an elite NBA skill yet, which is OK.”
