The Rise of Cam Whitmore: From Injury to International Stardom

2023-06-12 14:39:44

Cam Whitmore was not the most talented rookie in high school. He suffered a serious injury in his freshman year. At that time, Whitmore broke a leg and thought that his basketball career was over. After more than 6 months of rehabilitation, he returned to the sophomore season On the court, his performance throughout the season was mediocre, and he was only ranked 112th in the same ladder before the senior year of high school. Unexpectedly, during the senior year of high school, Whitmore’s physical fitness suddenly developed explosively, and he ranked 20th in the same ladder following the season. What really made Cam Whitmore known to everyone is that he represented the U.S. U18 following graduating from high school. In this international competition, he played a monster-level performance, averaging 18.7 points, 1.7 assists, 6.3 rebounds, and 45.5% three-pointers. The data is even brighter than that of Jalen Green back then. So if someone asked me if Cam Whitmore was more talented than Jalen Green, I think the answer would be yes.

Cam Whitmore

BIRTHDATE：Jul 8, 2004

DRAFT AGE：18.95 yrs

HEIGHT：6’7″

WEIGHT：235 lbs

NCAA Stats：

27.3 mins  4.7/9.8 47.8%FG 1.4/4.2 34.3%3P 1.7/2.5 70.3%FT

12.5 points, 0.7 assists, 5.3 rebounds, 1.4 steals, 0.3 pots, 1.6 turnovers

Cam Whitmore was not the most talented rookie in high school. He suffered a serious injury in his freshman year. At that time, Whitmore broke a leg and thought his basketball career would be over. After more than 6 months of rehabilitation, he returned to the sophomore season On the court, his performance throughout the season was mediocre, and he was only ranked 112th in the same ladder before the senior year of high school. Unexpectedly, during the senior year of high school, Whitmore’s physical fitness suddenly developed explosively, and he ranked 20th in the same ladder following the season. What really made Cam Whitmore known to everyone is that he represented the U.S. U18 following graduating from high school. In this international competition, he played a monster-level performance, averaging 18.7 points, 1.7 assists, 6.3 rebounds, and 45.5% three-pointers. The data is even brighter than that of Jalen Green back then. So if someone asked me if Cam Whitmore was more talented than Jalen Green, I think the answer would be yes.

Before joining Villanova University to start the new season last year, Cam Whitmore suffered an unexpected injury. He injured his right thumb during training and needed surgery. Because of this injury, he missed the first six weeks of the game. This is Cam Whitmore’s first absence since his freshman season. It was originally expected that the injury would take 10-12 weeks to rest, but Villanova’s record in the opening season was worse than expected, and Cam Whitmore might only come back early to try to lead The team wins. It is true that the team’s record has improved significantly following their comeback, but the whole scene is still very chaotic. As a team that reached the final four last year, Villanove did not even make it to March Madness this year.

Cam Whitmore’s physical fitness is very scary. He is the first player in the past 15 years to be in the top 25% in half-court return, 3/4 sprint, full-court sprint, and maximum jump, and he wears shoes more than 6-7. Of course, there may be some Some high-ranked physical monsters like Zion Williamson have not been tested, but this is still a very exaggerated data, and it is still a 235-pound heavy tank. With the performance of monsters shown in actual combat, it is really a representative of the next generation of strong orcs. This can be seen from the ability to finish in the penalty area. In the case of half-court battles, Cam Whitmore has a 64% shooting rate following cutting into the penalty area, which is even higher than most power forwards. Moreover, his first step is very fast, and he can almost enter the penalty area directly by relying on a straight line of strides.

If Cam Whitmore is purely selling physical ability and only has excellent offensive ability in the penalty area, then it is not special at all. What makes Cam Whitmore look special is that he is also very good at outside shooting. In the U18, the three-point shooting rate is as high as 45.5%, the college shooting rate is also more than 45%, and the shooting rate is regarding 35% when being defended. The key to lowering the shooting rate is the autonomous shooting following dribbling. It is only 29.7%. The big reason is that Cam Whitmore can only dribble on the left side, so as long as the defender blocks the left side, he can effectively interfere with cutting and shooting. However, with his growth curve and talent, I believe that following two seasons he should won’t be a problem. A similar situation also happened to Anthony Edwards, the No. 1 pick in 2021, but I believe all fans know how good a scorer Anthony Edwards is now.

Cam Whitmore’s biggest flaw is his passing vision. He only averaged 0.7 assists per game throughout the season. This made all scouts and teams seriously question his decision-making ability on the field. Whether he can only become a pure scorer in the future and cannot help his teammates Create better opportunities. Indeed, there is such a doubt from the data. Even considering Villanova’s poor pass assist ability this year, Whitmore often does not choose to pass the ball when the offense is flanked. The lack of pass ability can still become a star, for example Jaylen Brown and Anthony Edwards are both in this shape, but it definitely affects the dominance of the court. And following countless video studies, his awareness of space is indeed not top-notch. This is also some doubts regarding him from various teams, but it still does not affect that he is one of the most talented rookies this year.

Cam Whitmore has the opportunity to become the next unsolvable tank cut-in, beast forward, and even close to 40% of the three-point shooting. Just looking at the scoring efficiency of the university, he is even better than Anthony Edwards, but if you are looking for the team to hold the ball. Alone, he would definitely not be the best choice. The peak moment of Cam Whitmore’s current career is the U18 US team with Anthony Black. Teams that draft him shouldn’t have a hard time finding his best use case between these.

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