Scottie Reynolds Invited to Attend Suns' Training Camp
Undrafted guard Scottie Reynolds will have a chance to play in the National Basketball Association after being asked to join the Phoenix Suns’ training camp.
Reynolds was arguably the greatest player in Villanova University history, no easy feat, and surprisingly went undrafted after an extremely illustrious collegiate career. While at Villanova, Reynolds managed to score 2,222 points, which is just 21 shy of Kerry Kittles’s all-time school record. He was also a finalist for the Bob Cousy Award as a senior, a year in which he also made the AP All American 1st Team.
This made Reynolds the third modern Villanova player to be selected for All American 1st team status, alongside alums Kerry Kittles and Randy Foye. Both Kittles and Foye went on to have good NBA careers. Kittles played from 1996-2005 for the New Jersey Nets and the Los Angeles Clippers. Foye has just recently been signed by the Clippers.
In his senior year at Villanova, Reynolds averaged an impressive 18.5 points per game while shooting above 40% from behind the three-point line. Draft theorists had projected Reynolds as a smart second round pick. The fact that he was so heralded and known made it all the more surreal when his name was not called during the NBA Draft.
Reynolds, who is renowned for his competitive fierceness, bounced back and earned himself a roster spot in the NBA Summer League for the Phoenix Suns.
Although he missed the first two games of the summer league with an achilles injury, Reynolds put up 10.3 ppg and 4.7 assists per game in the final three games. Following this performance, Reynolds was asked to join the Suns’ regular season training camp. There he will attempt to become the Suns’ third guard behind MVP Steve Nash and exciting newcomer Goran Dragic. Reportedly, Reynolds was also invited to training camp by several other teams, including the New York Knicks.
Playing point guard is new to Reynolds, but at 6ft 2in he is far too undersized to continue playing the shooting guard position at the NBA level. Hopefully the former scoring machine can adjust to a more distributive type of play.
With regards to Reynolds’s switch, Suns Summer league coach Dan Majerle was quoted as saying that, “Scottie finally realized that his place in the NBA will have to be at point guard since there are not many 6ft 2in shooting guards around the league.”
Reynolds, who relied far more on finesse than athleticism, has also taken to the weights harder than ever before. He has added ten pounds of muscle to his frame in anticipation of playing physical basketball for all 82 regular season games, and hopefully the playoffs.
If he does make the Suns’ roster, Reynolds will actually see some playing time at the shooting guard position he dominated at college, albeit rarely. Phoenix currently has just one viable shooting guard in Jason Richardson, and far too much depth at the small forward position.
They could benefit from having Reynolds fill in at shooting guard as a substitute as no other shooting guard option besides Richardson really works both offensively and defensively.
Reynolds will most likely make the roster, as he is very committed to anything basketball related. While at Villanova, Reynolds would collect any negative press he received and pinned it up on what he referred to as the “Wall of Disrespect” to motivate himself throughout the season.
There is perhaps no bigger addition to the wall than going undrafted, and the ever-fierce Reynolds will do all he can to prove to everyone else that he is an NBA level guard.
Tags: