Kentucky coach Calipari predicts Canada’s Murray to be top rookie scorer

TORONTO – Jamal Murray is on the cusp of becoming the next Canadian star in the NBA, and his college coach John Calipari predicts big things from the young sharp-shooter.

“Let me say this. . .I’ve been wrong before in what I think. The last time I was wrong, I think it was 1978,” Calipari said Tuesday. “I believe that Jamal Murray will be the leading-scoring rookie in the NBA. That’s what I believe.”

Whose jersey Murray will be wearing will be determined Thursday, when the 19-year-old from Kitchener, Ont., is expected to be a top-five pick in the NBA draft.

Nine Canadians have been selected in the first round since 2011, and between newly-crowned NBA champion Tristan Thompson, last season’s rookie of the year Andrew Wiggins, and Toronto Raptors guard Cory Joseph, Canadian excellence has practically come to be expected in the league.

Murray shone for Canada at last summer’s Pan Am Games, particularly in a 111-108 semifinal win over the U.S. Scoreless through three quarters, the youngster exploded for 22 points in the fourth quarter and overtime.

He went on to break the Wildcats’ freshman scoring record in his lone season in Lexington, averaging 20 points a night and shooting 41 per cent from three-point range.

And Calipari, who relishes “any chance I can to brag about my kids,” spoke in glowing terms of his Canadian point guard on a wide-ranging conference call Tuesday.

“Finishes around the goal, can score multiple ways,” the legendary coach said. “I’m sold on him. But see, I coached him and I’m sold on him as a kid. Kid wants to win.

“If we would’ve advanced a couple of games (in March Madness), he would have broken Steph Curry’s three-point record,” he added. “He also became one of the most efficient scorers that I’ve coached. Now think about that statement, of who I’ve coached.”

The NBA playoffs were proof that there’s a premium on shooting now, which makes Murray a valuable commodity, Calipari said.

“The game is becoming positionless,” said the coach. “He’s 6-5, he’s physical, he can slash, shoot the ball with anybody. He’s ambidextrous.

“I’d come into practice and he’d be shooting threes with his left hand, and I’m like ‘What are you doing?’ He’s saying ‘Watch.’ And he’d make like three. He said ‘I’m gonna shoot this in a game.’ I said ‘You’re not shooting a lefty.’”

Calipari spoke of Murray’s mental strength, and praised his dad Roger for “opening his mind,” and getting him to look at the game in a unique way. He recalled finding the Canadian in a darkened video room before a game early in the season.

“The light’s out and I turn the light on and there he is. I said ‘What are you doing?’ He said ‘I’m meditating.’ ‘Well go use my office so I can put the board up,’” Calipari said. “So that became his routine. He would go into my office, turn the light out, I’d give him his time. He’s got a great mentality.

“This kid had a smile on his face every day. He would walk into practice and if I wasn’t smiling, he would point to his smile, like, ‘C’mon, coach.’”

Calipari said Murray, who signed a deal with Adidas on Tuesday, texted him recently to say thanks.

“With him, just basically going through what we did and how we did it and that it wasn’t always fun, but when he looks back and he says to me, ‘Now you. Now this is what I am as a player. Thank you.’ And you know, when you’re coaching and you know how hard you are on these kids — and I’m hard — we don’t have time for funsies here. So when you get those kind of responses, it makes it worth all the stuff we go through together.”

Most mock drafts have Murray going No. 4, 5 or 6. Calipari said Murray’s preference is to play for Minnesota.

The Canadian isn’t expected to be around when the Toronto Raptors draft ninth, although he joked on a Facebook live chat on Monday that he wouldn’t mind playing for his hometown team.

“That would be crazy,” Murray said. “It would be like LeBron bringing home a trophy to Cleveland, Cory (Joseph) in Toronto.

“It’s hard to put a label on (one team) especially when you don’t know where you’re going and there’s so many trade possibilities and free agency and all that, so I’m just kind of waiting for Thursday to come and enjoy that moment,” he added.

Canadians Kyle Wiltjer, Dyshawn Pierre, and Stefan Jankovic are potential second-round selections.