College Prospect Spotlight: Santa Clara’s Brandin Podziemski
The 2023 NBA Draft cycle is beginning to get interesting, as quite a few players are beginning to make a case for getting selected this summer. Especially at smaller schools, prospects have been able to make noise early in the season.
There's always a handful of college players who don't get as much national attention as they deserve, but are incredible players that could make an impact at the next level.
For this week’s spotlight, we take a look at Santa Clara guard Brandin Podziemski, who has legitimate NBA talent.
Brandin Podziemski (Guard | Santa Clara Broncos)
6’5” | 205 lbs
Season Stats: 18.4 PPG | 8.6 RPG | 38.8% 3PT
Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports
Notable Accolades
An Illinois transfer, Podziemski played less than 70 minutes all year as a freshman. This season at Santa Clara, he’s exploded in an expanded role.
He’s now the top scoring option for the Broncos, filling in the shoes of recent lottery pick Jalen Williams of the Oklahoma City Thunder. A pure scorer, he can produce 30 points on any given night.
In fact, he scored more points (30) in his Santa Clara debut than he did all of last season (22) at Illinois. Podziemski ended up scoring a total of 64 points in his first two games as a Bronco. He’s also already notched two games with at least five 3-pointers made.
On the defensive end, he’s been disruptive as well, producing 34 steals this season.
NBA Upside
One of the most underrated aspects of Podziemski’s game is the positional rebounding. As a guard, he’s pulled down nearly nine a game, which will be an attractive skill at the next level.
The former four-star recruit has a top 20 C-RAM among all college athletes that play at least 30 minutes per game, with a gold rating of 11.0 per Cerebro Sports.
Podziemski is built like an NBA guard and has a well-rounder game. Just looking at his Cerebro metrics, he’s great in most categories.
- 93 DSI
- 83 3PE
- 77 PSP
- 75 ATR
He is an underrated facilitator, as Podziemski has dished out 3.3 assists per game. At the next level, he’ll have the ability to be a solid combo guard.
Perhaps the most exciting thing about the sophomore guard is his ability to get to the line. In the modern NBA, the best scorers have a knack for getting fouled and generating free throws. Podziemski already has double-digit attempts from the line in three games this season. That means something to NBA teams.
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