Are Pre-Draft Concerns About Heat First-Round Pick Real? Kel’el Ware’s College Coaches Offer Insight

Kel’el Ware’s skill set stood out among this year’s NBA draft prospects. He appears to have all the tools NBA teams are looking for in a modern big.

Ware is a 20-year-old 7-footer with a 7-foot-4 wingspan. That size, combined with his impressive athleticism, allows him to serve as a rim protector and a fantastic finisher around the basket. He also shot better than 40 percent on three-pointers his final college season and has the potential to eventually play as a floor spacer at the NBA level.

Heat first-round pick Kel’el Ware reflects on productive and encouraging summer competition

So why was Ware still available when it was the Miami Heat’s turn to pick No. 15 in the first round of this year’s draft? Most pre-draft scouting reports on Ware questioned his commitment and focus following a difficult freshman season at Oregon, leading Ducks head coach Dana Altman to frequently publicly challenge him to play harder.

But after the Heat used their first-round pick to add Ware to their roster in late June, Heat vice president of basketball operations and assistant general manager Adam Simon dismissed those concerns, calling it a “low-hanging fruit description” of Ware.

“We’ve gathered a lot of background information on him,” Simon said. “(Heat director of college and pro scouting) Keith Askins, (Heat vice president of player personnel and Sioux Falls Skyforce general manager) Eric Amsler, our scouting staff, we’ve talked to everybody from coach (Chris) Crutchfield, who is now in Omaha, Nebraska, and recruited him to Oregon, the Oregon staff, everybody in Indiana, people that worked with him, everybody says he’s a willing worker and he wants to get better.”

Crutchfield began recruiting Ware when he was a sophomore at North Little Rock High School. Crutchfield was then the associate head coach at the University of Arkansas, but left during the recruiting process to become the head coach at East Central University — a Division II program — in 2020.

After one season at East Central, Crutchfield left to join Altman’s staff at the University of Oregon as an assistant coach in 2021.

“I just stayed in touch with the guy through that whole process,” Crutchfield told the Miami Herald of Ware. “As soon as I got the job at Oregon, I went after him. I knew who we needed to get and I went after him and pitched it to him. We ended up getting him, but I already had a relationship with him.”

But Crutchfield left Oregon before Ware arrived on campus. With Ware as part of the 2022 recruiting class, Crutchfield left Oregon after one season to become the head coach at the University of Nebraska Omaha in March 2022.

“I felt guilty for leaving him,” Crutchfield said. “I always told him, ‘He didn’t have anybody to advocate for him because the guy who recruited him and got him there left.’ What he went through, the adversity he went through as a freshman, he could have gone through that if I had been there.

“And I told him, ‘You just have to stay strong and realize that this is all God’s plan to get you where you need to be. Maybe he wants you to get through this adversity by not playing, by not feeling like anyone believes in you. Maybe that’s your way of persevering. God wanted you to engage your mental spirit and see how much you really love this game.'”

Ware was certainly tested during his lone season at Oregon, as he wasn’t utilized in the role most expected as a five-star high school recruit. Playing as a reserve center behind then-senior N’Faly Dante, Ware averaged 6.7 points, four rebounds and 1.3 blocks in 15.8 minutes per game across 34 appearances (four starts) as a freshman at Oregon.

Altman told the Miami Herald that “the adjustment from high school to college” was Ware’s biggest challenge at Oregon.

“Kel’el is a very good young man,” Oregon’s head coach said. “He was very easy to work with. He went to class every day, very respectful. … We just had a young man in N’Faly Dante who was just older, four years older. His physical play gave Kel’el problems. But it was the first time Kel’el was away from home. He’s 18 years old and playing against a 22-year-old.

“It’s an adjustment for anyone going from high school to college. He went across the country. I admired the fact that he wanted to stand on his own two feet. It was tough, just the homesickness because he and his mom and family are very close — a great family.”

Ware ultimately transferred to Indiana for his sophomore season, but he took with him the valuable lessons he learned at Oregon.

“Oregon has helped me grow mentally,” Ware said. “It’s definitely helped me get stronger mentally and mature faster mentally, just having to go through that adversity that I had to go through at Oregon and just being there that whole year. I credit Oregon for that, for helping me get stronger mentally.”

That experience and an expanded role translated to All-Big Ten honors for Ware, who averaged 15.9 points, 9.9 rebounds, 1.5 assists and 1.9 blocks per game while shooting 58.6 percent from the field and 17 of 40 (42.5 percent) from three-point range in 30 games (30 starts) as a sophomore at Indiana last season. He was selected to the Big Ten All-Defensive Team and All-Big Ten Second Team by the media and to the All-Big Ten Third Team by the coaches.

“There’s these labels, these four- and five-star labels that they put on these kids,” said Indiana head coach Mike Woodson, who also has two decades of experience as an NBA coach. “And I sit there and say, ‘Who says that?’ Because there’s a big jump from high school to college, from college to the pros. So a kid comes in with a five-star label, the media, everybody expects so much from this kid. Well, he’s got to learn the college game. I don’t want to knock the Oregon coach, because I don’t really know him. It just didn’t work out for him.

“When I got him, that same label and all the negative aspects that came with it came to me. And I was sitting there saying, I like the skills, but I’ve got to coach this kid. I’ve got to figure out how to get the most out of this kid. It took me 30 days. But he turned around and started doing everything that was asked of him.”

Ware continued this encouraging path in his first NBA summer league, helping the Heat win their first Las Vegas Summer League championship.

Ware averaged 18 points, 8.3 rebounds, one assist, one steal and 1.5 blocks per game while shooting 61.8 percent from the field and 3 of 10 (30 percent) from three-point range during the Heat’s six-game run to the Las Vegas Summer League title. As a result of that production, Ware earned a spot on the All-Summer League First Team.

“I think he’s gotten over it, just through his growth and his confidence,” Crutchfield said when asked if he thinks in-game lulls will continue to be an issue for Ware in the NBA. “Young guys, their brains are constantly growing and maturing. So when you’re in a place where you don’t feel like people have confidence in you, you lose confidence. He just wasn’t at that stage of maturity. You don’t have confidence, you have those lulls in your effort, you have those lulls on the court because you’re not 100 percent engaged or you don’t feel like you have the confidence to do the things that you can do. That’s where the growth was. Changing environments, changing schools, in this case it worked out really well because he needed that change.”

Ultimately, Ware believes he’s improved over his entire college experience, from the rough patch at Oregon to the bounce-back season at Indiana. After doing their homework for the draft, the Heat’s front office and scouts agree.

“That there’s always more in the tank,” Ware said of what he learned in college. “That I can always push past it and always give more, because that’s never really where my skills end. There’s always more that I can improve on and more that I can put on the floor to perform better.”