College Basketball: Adou Thiero Breaking Out in Year Three

Arkansas forward Adou Thiero is having a breakout junior year. Can he end up as a first-round pick?

Nov 13, 2024; Fayetteville, Arkansas, USA; Arkansas Razorbacks forward Adou Thiero (3) drives to the basket in the second half asTroy Trojans guard Tayton Conway (12) defends at Bud Walton Arena. Arkansas won 65-49. Mandatory Credit: Nelson Chenault-Imagn Images / Nelson Chenault-Imagn Images

Arkansas had a massive coaching change this offseason as they landed Hall of Fame coach John Calipari. He previously coached at the University of Kentucky, where he won one National Championship back in 2012 during his tenure there. It was time for a change which is ultimately how he ended up in Arkansas.

Although Calipari made the move from Lexington to Fayetteville, he wasn’t the only person to do so this offseason. Players transferred from Kentucky to Arkansas as well, including Adou Thiero, DJ Wagner and Zvonimir Ivisic.

Someone who has absolutely thrived this season in their move over from Kentucky to Arkansas is Thiero.

The 6-foot-8 wing has made massive improvements as a defender, finisher, 3-point shooter and has shown more aggressiveness as a scorer. Thiero averaged just seven points per game last season and is now producing nearly 19 points this season.

Although it’s a small sample size, he is shooting a higher volume of 3-pointers which is exactly what scouts wanted to see out of Thiero and will make it much easier to project his role in the NBA. He’s currently attempting 2.8 3-pointers per game while shooting 36.4% from behind the arc.

That’s definitely a respectable mark and hopefully something that stays consistent throughout the entire season. We have been able to see Thiero become more aggressive as a downhill driver and utilize his functional strength and finish through defenders.

Not only has he improved in a ton of different areas, but he also plays with an incredibly high motor which is exactly what NBA teams look for in a role player. With all of these improvements on top of what he already brought to the table, we could very well end up seeing Thiero as a first round pick in the 2025 NBA Draft.

---

Want to join the discussion? Like Draft Digest on Facebook and follow us on Twitter to stay up to date on all the latest NBA Draft news. You can also meet the team behind the coverage.