Athletic big men are usually the most impossible players to predict. How many of you were correct about Tyrus Thomas or LaMarcus Aldridge or Stromile Swift or Kenyon Martin?

When you see a player in college, so many things can influence how you view their performance. Typically, they’re far more bouncy and quick with everything they do. You’ll see them sky high for a rebound that only they can get or tip-dunk a miss that defies what you learned in Physics class. They move like the pterodactyls in Jurassic Park III. They’re graceful and impressive and you can’t figure out why they weren’t around before. And yet, they’re always lacking something that makes you think they should be in the next installment of your basketball viewing.

At the college level, guys like JaJuan should be able to dominate most nights just because they’re more freakish athletically than most of their competition. In Purdue’s 72-64 win over Siena today, JaJuan really only had one big man to worry about – 6’9” Ryan Rossiter. Considering Rossiter was in pseudo-foul trouble, JaJuan was able to work freely inside and just concentrate one what he could control offensively. He showed a lot why he could shoot up the draft boards (picked to go in next year’s second round on Draft Express and ranked 50^th in Chad Ford’s rankings) with a strong tournament showing.

Stat Line: 23 points, 15 rebounds, 3 blocks, 2 assists, 1 steal, 4 turnovers, 8/16 FG, 7/11 FT

What He Does Well
He can out-jump just about everybody on the court. He’s a lot like Tyrus Thomas only he seems like a good guy. When he gets the ball around the basket he’s often looking to dunk the ball. He’s pretty active on the boards most of the time (aka when he’s paying attention) and gets nearly every rebound of his off of length and athleticism. He runs the floor well. He’s also a pretty good shot-blocker in the sense that even if he’s not timing the shot correctly, he has the hang time and the frame to still challenge the shot. In many ways, he reminds me of a less patient Marcus Camby without the jumper. Actually, perhaps he’s more Carlos Rogers than Marcus Camby.

What He Does Poorly
This is where the hangups are that make you wonder if he should stay for his senior season to declare for the draft. His hands are terrible. I mean, they’re Johan Petro with oven mitts bad. He had multiple passes bounce off of his hands in the win over Siena. There was a four-minute stretch early on in which his awareness made him look like he was on Quaaludes. He was a little too jumpy with challenging shots and offensively, he didn’t seem to be in sync with what his teammates were doing. His frame is very slight. He’s 6’10” but only about 200 pounds. He can be pushed out of the post easily. I wouldn’t want him having to make many decisions with the basketball and even though he’s not the type of guy you’d have to double-team in the NBA, you’d probably do it just to see if you can force him into a turnover. I also didn’t see much work with his off-hand and I’m not quite sure he can dribble a basketball all that well. He’s probably a stretch at the power forward position in the NBA and more destined to be a small forward without all those pesky wing position skills.

Tweets of Madness
- @8pts9secs @HPbasketball @talkhoops I don’t believe that’s an actual person. “JaJuan”? You’re just screwing with me.

- @LibertyBallers @talkhoops Who’s JaJuan Johnson?

Can He Play in the NBA?
As you can see by the tweets, this guy isn’t a well-known commodity amongst draft picks. He’s a tall drink of potential water without a ton of substance. He dominated a Siena team that didn’t have a big man who could handle his jumping ability or his length. But what happens in the next round against Texas A&M who has bigger and stronger defenders like Loubeau and Davis? His ability to score effectively in the post and keep the A&M guards from getting layups around the basket will be the key to see just how much he matters in a given game. Purdue making past the Sweet Sixteen behind a couple more strong performances by JaJuan will be enough to get people talking about him and putting him not just in the first round this year but near the lottery. I’m not saying that’s where he belongs but that’s how this draft process tends to develop.

This would be a guy in the pros that you can run a play for a couple of times a game that involves a back screen and a lob anywhere to backboard. Assuming he’s paying attention, he’ll go get it and make a highlight. But what about the other plays in the game? Can he learn the game enough and be an attentive enough player to get through 30 professional minutes at a high level?