Story in The Athletic today about 7 breakout upperclassmen to watch, and of course our Pete is one of them. Here is the story:
Pete Nance | 6-foot-10 forward | Northwestern | 21 years old | senior
The son of former NBA super-athlete Larry Nance Sr., Pete Nance’s trajectory is eerily similar to the development of his brother, Larry Nance Jr., at Wyoming. It took Larry Jr. a couple of years at Wyoming to truly morph his way into being an NBA prospect physically before being taken in the late first round on his way to becoming one of the more complete role-player bigs in the NBA. Similarly, Pete Nance got to Northwestern back in 2018 at 6-foot-10, 190 pounds. He’s now 225 pounds and has the ability to at least handle interior play. More than that, while he was working on his body, he also worked substantially on improving his perimeter play. The results have been clear this season, and Nance has transformed himself into one of the most valuable players in the Big Ten.
There isn’t really anything Nance can’t do now within the college game. He’s as well-rounded a big as I’ve seen this year. I wouldn’t say he’s quite as twitchy athletically as his brother, but he’s just as coordinated away from the rim on offense. Northwestern uses him somewhat often as a dribble-handoff guy, and Nance is very fluid in the way he operates within these actions. He can reject the handoff to drive or operate as a roller out of these actions into a lob threat. He’s a sharp passer who can turn and operate as a high-post threat looking for cutters. Even more impressively, he’s developed into a legitimate pick-and-pop threat. Nance has hit 44 percent of his nearly three attempts from distance this season, looking very confident and comfortable. There is a bit of a pause in his jumper at the top, and he’ll want to iron that out over the next few years. But the results are strong enough to show real potential. As a big, Nance does a lot of what the modern NBA big is asked.
Defensively, Nance is capable in a variety of actions. He’s blocking two shots per game, doing a good job on the defensive glass and can match up with bigger guys on the block (as he showed in Northwestern’s win over Maryland when he was asked to defend the 6-foot-11, 240-pound Qudus Wahab). On the perimeter, Northwestern will use him aggressively in a few different ways. Sometimes he’ll hard hedge, and sometimes he’ll play flatter coverage. Having said that, he’s very comfortable sliding his feet and moving with guards. Again, I don’t think he’s quite as twitchy as his brother, who has morphed into one of the more versatile defenders in the NBA. But I do think there are some similarities in how teams will be able to use them.
I can’t quite put my finger on why Nance isn’t on the radar more. I’m not saying he’s a better prospect than Iowa’s Keegan Murray, but I think the two are much closer in terms of impact than has been acknowledged — especially when taking into account that Nance is only half a year older than Murray despite being a four-year player versus Murray being in the middle of his second season with the Hawkeyes. Nance defends well in applicable NBA situations, he shoots, he passes and can handle the ball a bit at 6-foot-10. Moreover, all of his best games this season, in my view, have occurred against high-major competition. I think Nance is a top-60 guy in this class based on what I’ve seen thus far. How he performs the rest of the year against the great Big Ten bigs could push him from a two-way type into more of a guarantee type player.
theathletic.com
Pete Nance | 6-foot-10 forward | Northwestern | 21 years old | senior
Key numbers: 16.4 points, 8.0 rebounds, 3.0 assists, 2.0 blocks, 53.1/44.0/85.0 shooting line
The son of former NBA super-athlete Larry Nance Sr., Pete Nance’s trajectory is eerily similar to the development of his brother, Larry Nance Jr., at Wyoming. It took Larry Jr. a couple of years at Wyoming to truly morph his way into being an NBA prospect physically before being taken in the late first round on his way to becoming one of the more complete role-player bigs in the NBA. Similarly, Pete Nance got to Northwestern back in 2018 at 6-foot-10, 190 pounds. He’s now 225 pounds and has the ability to at least handle interior play. More than that, while he was working on his body, he also worked substantially on improving his perimeter play. The results have been clear this season, and Nance has transformed himself into one of the most valuable players in the Big Ten.There isn’t really anything Nance can’t do now within the college game. He’s as well-rounded a big as I’ve seen this year. I wouldn’t say he’s quite as twitchy athletically as his brother, but he’s just as coordinated away from the rim on offense. Northwestern uses him somewhat often as a dribble-handoff guy, and Nance is very fluid in the way he operates within these actions. He can reject the handoff to drive or operate as a roller out of these actions into a lob threat. He’s a sharp passer who can turn and operate as a high-post threat looking for cutters. Even more impressively, he’s developed into a legitimate pick-and-pop threat. Nance has hit 44 percent of his nearly three attempts from distance this season, looking very confident and comfortable. There is a bit of a pause in his jumper at the top, and he’ll want to iron that out over the next few years. But the results are strong enough to show real potential. As a big, Nance does a lot of what the modern NBA big is asked.
Defensively, Nance is capable in a variety of actions. He’s blocking two shots per game, doing a good job on the defensive glass and can match up with bigger guys on the block (as he showed in Northwestern’s win over Maryland when he was asked to defend the 6-foot-11, 240-pound Qudus Wahab). On the perimeter, Northwestern will use him aggressively in a few different ways. Sometimes he’ll hard hedge, and sometimes he’ll play flatter coverage. Having said that, he’s very comfortable sliding his feet and moving with guards. Again, I don’t think he’s quite as twitchy as his brother, who has morphed into one of the more versatile defenders in the NBA. But I do think there are some similarities in how teams will be able to use them.
I can’t quite put my finger on why Nance isn’t on the radar more. I’m not saying he’s a better prospect than Iowa’s Keegan Murray, but I think the two are much closer in terms of impact than has been acknowledged — especially when taking into account that Nance is only half a year older than Murray despite being a four-year player versus Murray being in the middle of his second season with the Hawkeyes. Nance defends well in applicable NBA situations, he shoots, he passes and can handle the ball a bit at 6-foot-10. Moreover, all of his best games this season, in my view, have occurred against high-major competition. I think Nance is a top-60 guy in this class based on what I’ve seen thus far. How he performs the rest of the year against the great Big Ten bigs could push him from a two-way type into more of a guarantee type player.
NBA Draft: Sam Vecenie’s 7 breakout upperclassmen to watch as the season heats up
Scouts are seeing fewer sure things so far in this class, leaving room for several upperclassmen to make a move. Here are a few.
theathletic.com
