Allen Graves Might Be the Draft’s Biggest Evaluation Test

Allen Graves’s numbers jump off the page, but do they truly reflect his impact at Santa Clara or are they overstating his NBA translation?

While NIL has done wonders for the quality of college basketball by keeping players in school instead of chasing professional dreams too early, it has also aggressively depleted the depth of NBA talent among mid-major programs. Power conferences have poached a lot of the top-tier talent from these programs, but that doesn’t mean that they are completely devoid of draft sleepers. One of the potentially biggest mid-major talents for the 2026 NBA Draft is Santa Clara redshirt freshman forward Allen Graves.

The 6’9” 225-pound forward drew a lot of attention early in the season due to his impressive advanced numbers. He was putting up historically good defensive metrics, impressive shooting numbers, and incredibly impactful rebounding figures. With NBA-level physical measurements, it was easy to immediately be captivated by his game. Then, the season continued on, and Graves didn’t miss a beat. His statistical profile never faltered and maintained despite a growing sample size. Despite this, Graves still isn’t a first round mainstay on many boards. Why?