BOWLING GREEN — The days of multiple 7-footers roaming NBA hardwood are gone, and the league has shifted to speed, outside scoring, and defending more than one position.
Such traits apply to Daeqwon Plowden, who is working toward his future in professional basketball.
Plowden is aiming to become the third Bowling Green State University player drafted to the NBA since 1997, and the fourth since 1987. The last Falcon to earn the call was Richaun Holmes in the second round in 2015 by Philadelphia. Before Holmes, Antonio Daniels was chosen fourth overall by Vancouver in 1997, and Frank Booker went to New Jersey in the seventh round in 1987.
“Being in college and playing the four [position] and five a little bit and translating that over to being a wing at the next level, it’s about versatility,” Plowden said. “All of those teams that I spoke to, they’re looking for guys that are versatile on the defensive end and can do multiple things on the offensive end.”
While the 6-foot-6 Plowden is not likely to be drafted in the first round, there is potential for him to go in the second round. He would be the 29th Falcon to ever be drafted, dating to 1948.
The draft begins at 8 p.m. on Thursday at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, N.Y.
The Philadelphia native has worked out with the Washington Wizards, the New Orleans Pelicans, and the Utah Jazz. Utah finished as the No. 5 seed in the Western Conference at 49-33 and was the first to work Plowden out. New Orleans (36-46) made the West’s play-in tournament as the No. 8 seed and lost in the first round of the playoffs to Phoenix in six games. Utah bowed out in the first round to Dallas in six games.
Plowden worked out most recently on Friday for Washington, alongside St. John’s Jesuit graduate Vince Williams. Washington (35-47) missed the playoffs last season.
“I know I’m going to have to play a role,” Plowden said. “I know I’m going to have to take on a different job, so it’s just coming in and being a great energy guy and try to fit in and try to play to the best of my ability. Wherever coach needs me, I’ll try to do it to the best of my ability.”
He is the only player in BGSU program history to end his career with at least 1,200 points, 800 rebounds, and 100 blocked shots. He totaled 1,618 points (eighth in program history), 935 rebounds (fourth), and 126 blocks (fourth) in his career.
Plowden was named to the All-Mid-American Conference second-team after the 2019-20 season and was a third-team selection after the previous two seasons.
Last year, he posted a career-high 15.7 points and grabbed 6.8 rebounds per game. He was named to the MAC’s All-Defensive team after averaging 1.2 blocks and 0.9 steals per game. He is the program leader in games played with 154, and he never missed a game in his career.
When it comes to the NBA, Plowden on the surface fits the mold of a quintessential “3 and D” player.
“His game definitely translates because of the way the NBA now plays small-ball with guys that can guard multiple positions,” Falcons coach Michael Huger said. “He’s capable of guarding multiple positions, and he’s capable of knocking down the open 3. He can drive the ball extremely well. he rebounds the ball well, and that’s what they look for in the new-style NBA.”
Utah could seek Plowden for rotation depth behind 33-year-old forward Bogdan Bogdanovic, who averaged 18.1 points and 4.3 rebounds per game. Reserve Danuel House, Jr., averaged 5.9 points and 2.6 rebounds and played 17.3 minutes per game in 42 regular-season games.
There is a BGSU connection to New Orleans, as Daniels is the color analyst for the Pelicans’ television broadcast. On the floor, Herbert Jones posted 9.5 points and 3.8 rebounds in 78 games in his rookie season after being drafted in the second round out of Alabama. Reserve Trey Murphy III, a 2021 first-round pick by Memphis, totaled 5.4 points and 2.4 rebounds and played 13.9 minutes in 62 games.
Washington might afford Plowden the best chance for the most minutes right away. Their top option at small forward is 29-year-old Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, a 2013 first-round pick of Detroit. He posted 13.2 points and 3.4 rebounds in 77 games. He was fifth on the team in scoring.
Behind Caldwell-Pope is 2020 first-rounder Deni Avdija, who also rotates at power forward, and Anthony Gill, a 29-year-old who posted 4.1 points in 44 games.
Huger said Plowden’s strength is his energy, while a weakness is his ball handling.
“People don’t realize that energy and effort is a skill,” Huger said. “When you have to sit up there and you’ve got to coach energy and effort, that’s the hardest thing to do. When you’ve got a guy that plays extremely hard, then you can coach him.
“All you do is coach him and get him better. And that’s what he’s done since he was a freshman here. He’s gotten better every year because we never had to coach energy and effort. He’s the hardest worker, hardest-playing guy out there.”
First Published June 22, 2022, 1:51 p.m.
