Atlanta Hawks: Meet the 19th Overall Pick and Newest Hawk: John Collins!
By Conner Burks
The Atlanta Hawks used the 19th pick in the 2017 NBA Draft to select Power Forward John Collins out of Wake Forest University.
He’s listed at 6-feet-10 inches, 225 pounds. A Power Forward who just finished his sophomore season at Wake Forest where he averaged 19.2 points and 9.8 rebounds. And he’s now part of the Atlanta Hawks.
His name is John Collins and he’s the first draft pick for new general manager Travis Schlenk.
During his sophomore season he finished third in points and second in rebounds in the ACC. A conference that many consider to be one of the best in all of college basketball.
Collins also led the entire nation in Player Efficiency Rating (PER) with a rating of 36.52 according to ESPN. PER is a complicated equation stat created by basketball columnist, John Hollinger, who describes it like this:
"“The PER sums up all a player’s positive accomplishments, subtracts the negative accomplishments, and returns a per-minute rating of a player’s performance.”"
During the 2016-17 season Collins had a streak of scoring at least 20 points for 12 straight games. Something no Demon Deacon has done in over four decades, yes even including Tim Duncan and Chris Paul.
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During that stretch he had a huge 31 point, 15 rebound performance against Duke.
Collins had 17 double-doubles throughout the course of his sophomore season, and had double-digit scoring performances in 31 of 33 games.
After his sophomore season, Collins was awarded ACC most improved player, All-ACC first team and was named a Team Basketball Times All-American.
Both of Collins’ parents were in the military and have instilled a strong work ethic in their son. Also, according to SB Nation, Collins is a diehard WWE fan. Hopefully he takes from their physicality and puts it on the court for the Hawks.
Next: Atlanta Hawks: Brief Thoughts on Dwight Howard Trade
Haven’t had a chance to see John Collins play? Watch here: