No matter how much hoops you cover and how long, every year brings some discovery. Sometimes it can be caused by hitting late growth spurt, situation given by new coach, setting the mind right or even from off the court reason. But it only makes evaluating and watching basketball more fun and challenging. This can be the reason why for example NBA gives most improved player award. If we had them in college Ajdin Penava would be clear cut contender to get one.

Bosnian rising star in fact received some honors last weeks. He was selected to All-Conference USA team and won defensive player of the year trophy. Previously he was named player of the week as first European since Egor Koulechov in C-USA. It gets even more impressive considering he carried his team to the first NCAA Tournament appearance since 31 years! Thundering Herd even caused impressive upset to #4 seed – Wichita State but West Virginia was too much for them in the second round. Let’s break down the role of 1997 born prospect in this season full of achievements.

Ajdin is a walking definition of versitality. Often we say about players that they bring a lot to the table but it’s rare how much balanced and broad his game is. Basically dribbling, running, driving, passing, shooting, rebounding, blocking or playing defense on high level is not a big deal for Marshall big man. And then he combines this all for team’s good. Here’s how he stands out compared to typical inside heavy big and specialized court stretcher.

Penava gives to Marshall unique element they need in their offense. Similarly to his younger brother well known from using run and gun offense in NBA, Dan D’Antoni demands his players to speed it up as much as possible. According to hoop-math.com almost 29% of their attempts were taken within first 10 seconds of the action. In order to create opportunity in such a short time period you may need a mobile center who is either able to set the screen quickly while defense is still organising, finish as a trailer or most preferably just to grab & go. Over 40% of Ajdin contribution in fast break happened with the ball in his hands and was converted for 1.3 ppp (ranked around 40th place in the league).

Another principal of D’Antoni bros is avoiding perimeter looks. Most preferable shots are reliable layups around the rim and threes all around the arc. Marshall is classified 11th in amount of attempted 3s and 86% percent of their jumpshots were taken from downtown. Penava shows flashes of having more than capable outside stroke but at the end of the day (or season) his 34% still requires some extra work. However he can be considered elite around the basket finisher. Ability to play above the rim in space definitely helps in this regard as well as outrunning opponents even on short distances by slipping the pick and rolls. We also cannot underestimate the touch. His 1.453 ppp in the paint is 5th the best individual record from entire league on minimum 170 shots. This combined with ok stretching skills placed his on 27th spot in effective field goal percentage (.610).

As in every basketball system presence of prominent point guard is more than helpful. Jon Elmore is perfect mid major star for Marshall and could not be as successful in other program or style of playing. 6’3 guard finished the season as 9th the best assister and whole team was ranked 14th. Pick and roll composed more than half of Elmore offense. On 291 possessions that he shared the ball in, Herd scored 344 points. Combining it with the rest of P&R ball handlers, Marshall gets amazing 6th spot in the most buckets per play scored by rolling bigs. To sume up two man game was 12th the most often used offense (+35% of possessions) in NCAA. D’Antoni boys ended the season 19th in PPP and 16th in percentage of score in this kind of situations. Obviously huge credit for this goes to Penava for being a little bit of Amare to Jon Elmore’s Steve Nash mode. Bosnian talent ended 23rd individually in this category with twice more attempts than anyone above him which basically allow to state that considerably he could lead the entire league.

Ajdin provided huge contribution also on defensive end. He was #1 of college basketball in blocked shots per game – 3.9. Big minutes on the floor helped but still he finishes 4th in blk/40 and Top 15 in percentage of rejected shots. He is potentially NBA level rim protector. He can cover plenty of ground immediately and is capable of guarding outside of the paint. Well proportionate frame which can still fill out more and at least solid athletic abilities will be also helpful next years to excel on this end.

What he lacks is a low post game. However it’s not a big flaw at all and has a lot to do with offensive concept. Only 0.6% of Marshall possessions were post ups. Penava is not overly strong at the moment and has very basic moves. However he has quite soft hands and needs just slight polish to occassionaly punish much smaller players on mismatches more reliably.

I believe Penava still didn’t reach his full potential. He is a classic example of guards/wings who hit the late growth spurt and now bring to the table assets hard to achieve for frontcourt players who has always been the biggest on the floor. To some degree he still doesn’t receive as much credit as he should. I would definitely Draft him in the mid or late second round and there is a big chance for him to become the steal. However he is not typical junior whose age can affect the stock. Coming back for senior year to continue all around progress and to prove his qualities with larger opponents or NBA executives focus on him, can help to be more ready and prove that he belongs.