WALTHAM, Mass. — Travis Trice was the unquestioned leader of Michigan State’s basketball team this season, pacing the team in points and assists as the Spartans advanced all the way to the Final Four as a No. 7 seed.
Now, the guard faces an exponentially tougher challenge: landing an NBA job.
Despite Trice’s success in East Lansing, the 22-year-old guard is nowhere to be found on most draft boards, mostly due to his 6-foot, 170-pound frame. So, he’s hitting the road this month, trying to showcase his skills at pre-draft workouts like the one he completed Friday with the Boston Celtics.
“My thing is just to really find my niche,” Trice said after the roughly hour-long session. “All you’ve got to do is find one coach to fall in love with you, one program to fall in love with you. So, that’s what I’m trying to come in here and do now is just kind of really impress them and just play the way I know how to play.”
That’s easier said than done, of course, and Trice knows it. He plans to visit more than a dozen teams ahead of draft night with the hope of leaving a lasting impression on one.
“I’d say anywhere between 14 and 17.” he said. “I’m still getting some calls; we’re trying to find time to do them. But this is a good problem to have. I’d rather be getting too many calls than not enough. I’m just excited.”
Some additional notes from Friday’s workout, which was Boston’s fourth of the spring:
— Northeastern forward Scott Eatherton was part of the Huskies team that advanced to its first NCAA Tournament since 1991 and nearly knocked off third-seeded Notre Dame in its opening game.
“It was loud,” Eatherton said of the atmosphere near the end of the 69-65 loss, which was played at Pittsburgh’s Consol Energy Center. “It was real loud. People were screaming. It was a lot of fun, too.”
Eatherton led Northeastern with 18 points and eight rebounds in the game, but the Huskies’ dreams of becoming college basketball’s latest Cinderella crumbled when they was unable to get a shot off on their final possession.
“I’ve seen it,” the 23-year-old big man said when asked about that agonizing ending. “I wish we had another timeout, that would have really helped us. We weren’t planning for (Notre Dame)Â to turn the ball over like that when they were inbounding the ball. But I feel like if we had another timeout, our coach would have been able to draw up a play. I think we would have executed it, and I think we could have won.”
The Fighting Irish went on to reach the Elite Eight before falling to top-seeded Kentucky.
— Unlike Wednesday’s and Thursday’s workouts, Friday’s session featured no projected draft picks. Wisconsin-Green Bay guard Keifer Sykes was the only one of the six attendees even ranked among the top 100 prospects by DraftExpress, checking in at No. 80.
Celtics director of player personnel Austin Ainge explained the team’s thought process behind bringing in players whom most consider NBA long shots.
“NBA, summer league, D-League, future, free agency — we’re evaluating for all of those,” Ainge said. “You never know. … These are guys that, we’re trying to evaluate them. If we draft them now, great. If they go undrafted, maybe we can get them then. Maybe they go to Europe and have a couple of good years and then we can talk to them. It’s all trying to evaluate for the future.”
— As one would expect, each player had high praise for Celtics coach Brad Stevens, who ran the practice. Eastern Kentucky guard Corey Walden, however, gave a particularly glowing review.
“He’s a great guy,” Walden said. “He’s super smart, has a great feel for the game. He’s like a play-drawing genius, if you will. He’s just a great coach, and I really respect him.”
Thumbnail photo via Bob Donnan/USA TODAY Sports Images
