Rutgers Star Ace Bailey Receives High Praise from NBA Hall-of-Famer

There have been many opinions shared about former Rutgers Scarlet Knights star Ace Bailey.

From the moment he stepped on the court in Piscataway, Bailey was regarded as a top-three player in the class. He is still gaining attention ahead of the 2025 NBA Draft with many believing he will be selected with the third-overall pick.

Bailey received high praise from NBA Hall-of-Famer Carmelo Anthony during a recent appearance on the Podcast P show with Paul George.

"I love Ace," Anthony said. "His skill set and his will to get to a spot to work on certain stuff. He's relentless working on spots on the court."

Bailey was named Third Team All-Big Ten and to the All-Freshman Team this year. He averaged 17.6 points and 7.2 rebounds while shooting 45.8% from the field. Bailey scored a total of 510 points and currently sits third all-time in program history.

Anthony added that Bailey's overall skillset is "way far past" Cooper Flagg's, who is expected to be the No. 1 overall pick to the Dallas Mavericks.

Anthony believes that Bailey is not gaining as much attention because of previous players that have come into the league with similar hype.

“We’ve seen Ace before," Anthony said. "That’s why it’s not talked about like that. We’ve seen Ace, we’ve seen PG, we’ve seen KG, we’ve seen Melo. That’s why it’s not talked about.”

Flagg and Bailey are similar players that might draw comparisons over the course of their careers. Paul George, who is also a fan of Bailey, believes that he would gain more attention if Flagg was not in the class.

"If there was no Cooper Flagg, Ace Bailey would have been an even bigger name that people would have been talking about in this draft," George said. "I think he's going to come into the league and make noise right away."

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