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Kendrick Perkins drops wild Darius Acuff Jr. take after dropping 49 on Alabama
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- Kendrick Perkins drops wild Darius Acuff Jr. take after dropping 49 on Alabama
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Despite suffering a loss to Alabama, Arkansas point guard Darius Acuff Jr. turned a lot of people onto his game with a career-high 49-point outing on Wednesday night. For Kendrick Perkins , who was already on the Acuff train, all it did was reassure him that the freshman is the best prospect in the 2026 NBA Draft.
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With the college basketball world buzzing about Acuff, Perkins took the opportunity to laud the Arkansas guard as the best NBA prospect of the class. The ESPN analyst said he would take Acuff with the No. 1 pick in the upcoming draft , comparing him to Stephon Marbury and Derrick Rose.
"I would actually take Darius Acuff Jr. with the No. 1 pick," Perkins said on 'First Take.' "He is Steph Marbury times two with a Derrick Rose mentality towards his demeanor. He is a bona fide killer. When you look at the guards, when you look at the scoring that can impact the league, he's more NBA-ready right now than AJ Dybantsa and Darryn Peterson."
When comparing Acuff to Darryn Peterson and AJ Dybantsa, Perkins said he does not have "a single concern" about the Arkansas point guard's ability to play at the next level.
"I don't have one single concern about [Darius Acuff] right now. He step foot on that floor, I might pick him to win Rookie of the Year next year."
Acuff's 22.3 points per game rank eighth in the country, while his 6.2 assists per game are 20th in Division I. He averages 8.0 field goals per game, the sixth-most in the nation, while hitting 44.3 percent of his three-pointers.
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Acuff is certainly destined to be a top-five pick, but few agree with Perkins' No. 1 overall take. Kansas' Peterson has dominated that discussion all season, but frequent injury and illness absences have raised red flags . Peterson's constant unavailability has allowed Dybantsa, the country's leading scorer, to surpass him in some mock drafts.
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