Thunder Draft: Alabama’s Noah Clowney Presents Raw Talent with High Ceiling

Noah Clowney is only 18 years old, but with a high ceiling and strong interior skill set he could be a good fit in Oklahoma City.

Alabama has plenty of talent on its current basketball roster, a major factor in them earning one of the four No. 1 seeds in the NCAA Tournament.

Projected top five pick Brandon Miller gets most of the attention on the team, but after him comes multiple draft eligible prospects, including another projected first rounder in big man Noah Clowney.

Clowney is a 6-foot-10, 210 pound freshman out of Roebuck, South Carolina and he’s had a tremendous freshman season. He can both score and rebound at a high level at the rim and can occasionally knock down a 3-point shot, though not as a high percentage shooter.

The forward plays 25.1 minutes per game, and on Thursday he helped get Alabama into the Round of 32 after a blowout win over Texas A&M Corpus Christi. Clowned though only played nine minutes, all in the first half after picking up three fouls.

However, before Clowney headed to the bench he scored 10 points on 3-of-4 shooting and had four rebounds. Clowney this season is averaging 10.1 points and nearly eight rebounds per game. He’s a 50% shooter from the floor, but does shoot under 30% from beyond the arc.

The Thunder’s draft pick is still fluid with their position in the Western Conference still working itself out, though Clowney is a projected late first rounder currently. With Alabama projected to make a deep run in March Madness, Clowney will have chances to wow scouts and move up draft boards with his long frame and interior abilities.

If Clowney can continue to develop an outside shot while continuing to dominate the glass, he could fall into the Thunder's rotation nicely with his mixed bag of tricks. Clowney will only be 18 on draft night, and is more raw than other forwards in the class but has a high ceiling and has shown flashes of potential in big moments over the course of the season. 

With OKC’s track record of developing raw prospects Clowney could be a suitor on draft night. 

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