Ja Morant 2019 NBA Draft: Father Makes Prediction, Patrick Mahomes Praises Guard

Temetrius Jamel Morant – known as Ja Morant – lit up the first round of the NCAA Tournament on Thursday night with a triple-double to lead no.12 seed Murray State to a dominant 83-64 victory over no.5 seed Marquette. He joined an elite list of just eight players who have achieved this feat in NCAA Tournament history.

The 19-year-old is considered among the top basketball prospects in the United States and he proved that the hype surrounding his talent was not misleading. Morant recorded 17 points, 11 rebounds, and 16 assists in 39 minutes to record the first triple-double of the NCAA Tournament since Draymond Green did the same in 2012.

Morant was not too overwhelmed after his performance against Marquette claiming that he pays no attention to the hype surrounding his game. But one of the scouts watching the game told ESPN they have the guard at No.2 when it comes to the 2019 NBA Draft with Zion Williamson expected to go as the overall top pick this year.

"I really don't pay too much attention to the hype," Morant told ESPN after Murray State’s win. "I just try to go out and play the same game every night."

The Marquette defense did everything they could to stop Morant, including double-teaming him on more than a few occasions but he always managed to get the pass away to one of his teammates and most of it, according to an opposing player, was “on the money”. Marquette head coach Steve Wojciechowski heaped praise on the player admitting his team could do nothing to “shake” Morant on the night.

"I have a ton of respect for him," Wojciechowski said after the game. "I mean, the triple-doubles, 16 assists in an NCAA tournament. It's crazy. You can't speed him up. You can run two people at him, you can switch, try to get the ball out of his hands. There is nothing that we found that could speed him up or shake his decision-making."

Morant is predicted to be in the top-5 when the 2019 Draft comes along later in the year, but his father believes otherwise. He was asked about where his son would go after his performance against Marquette and he responded with a question, stating: “Is there anything before 1?” and Jamie Morant answered his question, stating: “Ya zero, let him go zero it’s before 1.”

It was not only the basketball world that sat up and took notice of Morant’s impressive performance against Marquette as 2019 NFL MVP Patrick Mahomes tweeted his admiration for the young point guard, when he said: “Yo this man, Morant (@igotgame_12) can hoop!!!” after which he also went on to praise his teammates.