The NBA Isn’t Ready For Darius Acuff Jr.

Darius Acuff Jr. just had one of the greatest freshman seasons in college basketball history — and the NBA has no idea what's coming. 23.5 points. 6 assists. 48.6% from the field. 44% from three. The only player in the entire country to average at least 20 points and 6 assists per game. He joined Pete Maravich as the only two players in SEC history to lead the conference in both scoring and assists in the same season. He won SEC Player of the Year, SEC Freshman of the Year, the Bob Cousy Award, and SEC Tournament MVP — averaging 30.3 points and 7.7 assists across three tournament games to bring Arkansas its first SEC title since 2000. Then he played 50 minutes in double overtime on a bum ankle, scored 49 points, and still wasn't enough to beat Alabama. That's who Darius Acuff Jr. is. Coming out of Detroit, trained by his father since age three, and developed at IMG Academy, Acuff arrived in Fayetteville with generational pedigree and left with records that had stood since Pete Maravich played the game. His combine measurements mirrored Damian Lillard's from 2012. He ran the fastest three-quarter court sprint of any player at the entire combine. The questions are real — defense, size, strength. But so is everything else about this kid. Does Darius Acuff Jr. become an NBA All-Star, or do the defensive limitations hold him back? Drop your take in the comments. Subscribe to CourtVision for documentary-style NBA content every week.