Are pre-draft concerns about Heat first-round pick real? Kel’el Ware’s college coaches offer insight

Kel’el Ware’s skill set stood out among this year’s NBA draft prospects. He seemingly has all the tools that NBA teams look for in a modern-day big.

Ware is a 20-year-old 7-footer with a 7-foot-4 wingspan. That size paired with his impressive athleticism allows him to serve as a rim protector and a fantastic finisher around the basket. He also shot better than 40 percent on threes in his final college season and has the potential to eventually play as a floor spacer at the NBA level.

Heat first-round pick Kel’el Ware looks back at productive and encouraging summer league

So, why was Ware still available when it was the Miami Heat’s turn to pick at No. 15 overall in the first round of this year’s draft? Most pre-draft scouting reports on Ware questioned his effort and focus after a rough freshman season at Oregon that left Ducks head coach Dana Altman often publicly challenging him to play harder.

But after the Heat used its first-round pick to add Ware to its roster in late June, Heat vice president of basketball operations and assistant general manager Adam Simon dismissed those concerns. Simon labeled it as a “low-hanging fruit description” of Ware.

“We did a lot of background on him,” Simon said. “[Heat director of college and pro scouting] Keith Askins, [Heat vice president of player personnel and Sioux Falls Skyforce general manager] Eric Amsler, our scouting staff, we talked to everybody from coach [Chris] Crutchfield, who’s at Omaha in Nebraska now and recruited him to Oregon, the Oregon staff, everybody at Indiana, people that have worked with him. Everybody says he’s a willing worker and he wants to get better.”

Crutchfield began recruiting Ware when he was a sophomore at North Little Rock High School. Crutchfield was then the associate head coach at the University of Arkansas, but left during the recruiting process to become the head coach at East Central University — a Division II program — in 2020.

After one season at East Central, Crutchfield left to join Altman’s staff at the University of Oregon as an assistant coach in 2021.

“I just kind of stayed in contact with the guy throughout that whole process,” Crutchfield said to the Miami Herald regarding Ware. “As soon as I got the job at Oregon, I went right after him. I knew who we needed to get and went right after him and turned it up on him. We ended up getting him, but I had a relationship with him already.”

But Crutchfield left Oregon before Ware arrived on campus. With Ware part of the 2022 recruiting class, Crutchfield departed Oregon after one season to become the head coach at the University of Nebraska Omaha in March 2022.

“I felt bad that I left him,” Crutchfield said. “I always told him this, ‘He didn’t have anybody there to advocate for him because the guy that recruited and brought him there left.’ What he went through, the adversity that he had to go through as a freshman, he could have gone through that even if I was there.

“And I told him that, ‘You just got to stay strong and realize this is all God’s plan to get you where you need to be. Maybe he wants you to go through this adversity that you’re going through by not playing, by not feeling like somebody believes in you. Maybe that’s your way of digging in. God wanted you to tap into your mental spirits and see how much you really love this game.’”

Ware was certainly tested during his lone season at Oregon, as he wasn’t used in the featured role that most expected as a five-star high school recruit. While playing as the backup center behind then-senior N’Faly Dante, Ware averaged 6.7 points, four rebounds and 1.3 blocks in 15.8 minutes per game over 34 appearances (four starts) as a freshman at Oregon.

Altman told the Miami Herald that “the adjustment from high school to college” was Ware’s biggest challenge at Oregon.

“Kel’el is a really good young man,” the Oregon head coach said. “He was really easy to work with. He went to class every day, very respectful. … We just had a young man in N’Faly Dante who was just older, four years older. His physical game gave Kel’el problems. But it was the first time that Kel’el had been away from home. He’s 18 years old going against a 22-year-old.

“It’s an adjustment for anybody to go from high school to college. He traveled to the other side of the country. I really admired the fact that he wanted to branch out on his own. It was tough, just the homesickness because he and his mom and family are really tight — great family.”

Ware ended up transferring to Indiana for his sophomore season, but he took the valuable lessons that he learned at Oregon with him.

“Oregon helped me grow mentally,” Ware said. “It definitely helped me grow mentally stronger and mentally older quicker just having to go through that adversity that I had to go through at Oregon and just being there that whole year. I thank Oregon for that, for helping me grow mentally stronger.”

That experience and a bigger role translated to All-Big Ten honors for Ware, averaging 15.9 points, 9.9 rebounds, 1.5 assists and 1.9 blocks per game while shooting 58.6 percent from the field and 17 of 40 (42.5 percent) from three-point range in 30 games (30 starts) as a sophomore at Indiana last season. He was selected to the Big Ten All-Defensive Team, and All-Big Ten Second Team by the media and to the All-Big Ten Third Team by the coaches.

“There are these tags, these four and five-star tags that they put on these kids,” said Indiana head coach Mike Woodson, who also has two decades of NBA coaching experience. “And I sit and say, ‘Says who?’ Because there’s a major jump from high school to college, from college to the pros. So a kid comes in with a five-star tag, the media and everybody expects so much out of this kid. Well, he’s still got to learn the college game. It’s no knock against the Oregon coach because I don’t really know him. It just didn’t work out for him there.

“When I got him, that same tag and all the negatives that came along with it came to me. And I’m sitting there saying, I like the skill set but I got to coach this kid. I got to figure out how to get the most out of this kid. It took me 30 days. But he changed and started doing everything that was asked of him.”

Ware continued on that encouraging path in his first NBA summer league, helping the Heat win its first Las Vegas Summer League championship.

Ware averaged 18 points, 8.3 rebounds, one assist, one steal and 1.5 blocks per game while shooting 61.8 percent from the field and 3 of 10 (30 percent) from three-point range during the Heat’s six-game run to the Las Vegas Summer League title. As a result of that production, Ware earned a spot on the All-Summer League First Team.

“I think he’s gotten past it just because of his growth and his confidence,” Crutchfield said when asked whether he thinks in-game lulls will remain a problem for Ware in the NBA. “Young kids, their brains are constantly growing and maturing. So when you’re in a place where you don’t feel like people have confidence in you, then you lose confidence, too. He just wasn’t at that maturity stage yet. You don’t have confidence, you have those lulls in your effort, you have those lulls on the court because you don’t feel 100 percent engaged or you don’t feel like you have the confidence to do the things that you can do. That’s where the growth was. Changing scenery, changing schools, in this case it worked out really good because he needed that change.”

In the end, Ware believes he’s better for his entire college experience from the tough times at Oregon to the bounce-back season at Indiana. After doing their pre-draft homework, the Heat’s front office and scouts agree.

“That there’s always more in the tank,” Ware said of what he learned in college. “That I can always push past it and to always give more because it’s never really where my skill set stops at. There’s always more that I can improve and more that I can put on the floor to be able to perform better.”