Indiana Hoosiers center Kel’el Ware now knows what the future holds for him, with the Miami Heat selecting him with the No. 15 overall pick in the first round of the 2024 NBA Draft.
Ware spent two seasons in college, initially starting at Oregon before transferring to Indiana. He played his high school basketball at North Little Rock in Arkansas. While in high school, Ware was a five-star recruit and the sixth-ranked player overall in the Class of 2022, according to the On3 Industry Ranking. He was also a McDonald’s All-American coming out of high school.
Ware played for the United States under-18 basketball team at the 2022 FIBA Under-18 Americas Championship. There, he was named to the All-Tournament team while also helping the United States to win a gold medal.
Kel’el Ware played in a total of 65 games, starting 34 of them in his college career. The vast majority of his starts came in his sophomore season at Indiana. There, he started all 30 games that he played in and averaged 32.2 minutes per game.
In this past season, Ware averaged 15.9 points, 9.9 rebounds, 1.5 assists, 0.6 steals, and 1.9 blocks per game. He also shot 58.6 percent from the field and 42.5 percent from three-point range. That helped him get named to the Second-Team All-Big Ten by the media. He was also named to the Big Ten All-Defensive Team.
Kel’el Ware entered the NBA Draft as one of the more interesting prospects in it. His pedigree as a high school recruit is nearly unmatched. However, his freshman season at Oregon was a disappointing one before he broke out at Indiana. With that, he was able to see his stock rise in the lead-up. It also hasn’t heard that he has excellent length at seven feet tall.
What NBA Draft experts are saying about Kel’el Ware
Ahead of the NBA Draft, RotoWire wrote up several profiles on 2024 Draft prospects. That included Kel’el Ware.
“Ware possesses a highly-coveted skill set. He can stretch the floor on offense while protecting the rim on defense,” RotoWire wrote.
“The big man has an array of post moves at his disposal and can find open teammates when facing a double team. In the pick-and-roll, Ware can pop out to three, be a capable passer in the short roll or finish lobs. Defensively, Ware is able to utilize his length and 7-foot frame to stay vertical and erase shots at the rim.”
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