NBA Comparison: N/A

Strenghts: An outstanding athlete … He put himself on the college basketball map when he had one of the year’s most exciting dunks in 2007 as a freshman during the American East Championship game vs. Albany which was nationally televised … As a sophomore, he garnered both the America East Player of the Year and America East Defensive Player of the Year, which had never been accomplished before in league history .. A quick leaper as his 2.9 blocks per game will attest to … Able to guard both wing and post players effectively … Offensively, he attacks the rim with an attitude and as a result he gets to the free throw line quite often … He is very crafty around the rim and finishes most of his shots (58.3% from the field) … He could be intriguing to some NBA teams looking for defensive help, where Blakely could be very effective guarding a couple different positions.

Weaknesses: His offensive perimeter skills are very raw … He is uncomfortable handling the ball on the wing … He rarely puts the ball to the floor more than once or twice … Also, he has yet to show any consistency shooting the ball outside of 12 feet … Ball handling and outside shooting are two aspects of his game that must improve if he is going to have any shot at making an NBA roster … At the college level, his game resides strictly in the paint. At only 6-5, he will not be able to have continued success down in the post as he will be extremely undersized. Poor free throw shooter as well (59%).

Brian Cerone 2/7/09