NBA Draft Scouting Report: UC Santa Barbara's Ajay Mitchell
Ajay Mitchell
Guard | UC Santa Barbara
Height: 6'5” | Weight: 190 lbs
2024 Draft Age: 21.99
Joe Camporeale-USA TODAY Sports
Prospect Profile
Entering his third college season, Mitchell will look to continue developing his already well-rounded game in effort to improve his stock ahead of the 2024 NBA Draft. A lefty guard with several translatable skills, he’s an underrated player to keep an eye on this college season. He has been a contributor at UCSB from day one, earning Big West Freshman of the Year and All-Big West Second Team as a freshman, then got the Big West Player of the Year nod as a sophomore while also winning Big West Championships MVP.
Mitchell turns 22 right around the time of the 2024 NBA Draft, so he is fairly young relative to his collegiate experience with over 2000 minutes played thus far. A proven scorer (16.3 points per contest last season), he notched seven games with 24 or more points as a sophomore. He’s also a fantastic distributor, producing 5.1 assists (30.8% assist rate) last season while maintaining a fairly low turnover rate (14%).
The 3-point shot is a bit of a concern for Mitchell, as he saw regression in efficiency from deep last season without a significant increase in volume. He has a lefty jumper that is quick and compact, but somewhat offset and doesn’t go in at a high clip. With that in mind, he is a really solid free throw shooter which does leave room for optimism on long-term outlook of his jumpshot. Even without the triple, Mitchell is a dynamic scorer overall and has no problem getting buckets for his team.
The third-year college player also has some upside defensively. Mitchell has shown the motor and tools to be disruptive and notched more than a steal per game last season. Increasing his versatility and consistency as a defender will be the next step.
Mitchell is a former three-star recruit from Belgium, where he played professionally before coming to compete at the college level. He also has experience for the Belgian junior teams in FIBA play, which is where he’s shown an entirely other side of his game.
Highlights
Draft Projection
Potential Second-Round Pick in 2024 NBA Draft.
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