Seniors under the radar: Eloy Vargas

by:Rashawn Franklin05/11/12
Eloy Vargas was recently listed by HoopsWorld.com as one of the "Seniors under the radar" heading into June's NBA Draft. Vargas, who struggled to find playing time behind Terrence Jones and Anthony Davis, hopes to showcase his talent for teams and show that he belongs on an NBA roster. He's got a tough road ahead of him to accomplish that goal, but he was a Top-100 recruit coming out of high school and along with his rare size, teams will have no choice but to keep an eye on him.
Since John Calipari took over at Kentucky three years ago, the school has produced more NBA players than any program in the country. This year is going to be no different, as they have six players who are assured to get drafted, four of which are locks to go in the first round. The other two will almost certainly be selected early on in the second round. Backup center Eloy Vargas is also pursuing his dreams of playing in the NBA. If you don’t remember seeing him play for Kentucky this year, you’re not in the minority. Vargas played just six minutes a contest, averaging one point and nearly two rebounds per game. At 6’11 and 244 lbs, though, he clearly has the size to play in the league. And Vargas, a former top 100 recruit out of high school, actually has a lot of skills that he hasn’t been able to showcase yet. Just because he wasn’t able to earn minutes over Anthony Davis, Terrence Jones and Kyle Wiltjer doesn’t mean he can’t play. “I’m not a selfish player,” Vargas said to HOOPSWORLD. “I’ll bring a lot of energy. A lot of people haven’t seen me play like I used to before, so they’ll be interested to see what I can do. Before, I used to play the four. Now I can go back to being who I was.”
Vargas has also played on the Dominican National Team. He thinks that experience has strengthened his game in preparation for the NBA.
At Kentucky he’s gone up against lottery picks every day in practice and he also actually spent time working with the Dominican National Team, as well. “It helped me a lot to see how hard they worked,” Vargas said. “Al Horford, I learned a lot from him. We had a great team, great guys, so I learned a lot.” Over the next few weeks Vargas will have the opportunity to fully showcase all he’s learned from the incredibly talented players he’s been going up against behind the scenes. Don’t be shocked if a seventh Wildcat finds his way into the NBA for the 2012-2013 season, whether you hear his name on draft night or not.
Good luck, Eloy.

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