I always get freaked out a little bit when I look at the ages of first or second-year players and they end up being 24 or 25 years old. I’m just so used to all the good rookies being 19 that I forget that there are some players who need the whole 4 years in college before they’re ready for the big leagues.
Frank Mason is one of those players. He only really became a stud at Kansas in his final year where he won some awards and averaged 20 per game. But that means, since he’s already been with the Kings for a year, that he’s already 24 years old. I think I see a little bit of grey in his facial hair.
Someone knowledgeable about the draft can tell me if 4-year college players ever really blossom into studs or if they just kind of stay the same their whole career. I can think of examples where that happened, but there are probably recent studs as well. Mason is probably not going to become an All-Star or anything, but he seems to be playing a bit better this year compared to last. It’s early, of course. And he looks like a broccoli. But maybe he’s the Kings’ backup PG of the future?