Villanova Basketball: Eric Paschall could turn into draft steal for Warriors

The Golden State Warriors landed former Villanova basketball star Eric Paschall at No. 41 in the 2019 NBA Draft.

Even though the 2019 NBA Draft didn’t see as many members from the Villanova basketball team selected this year when compared to 2018, at least the Wildcats have plenty of reasons to be proud over Eric Paschall going in the second round.

With the No. 41 pick, the Golden State Warriors decided to go with the Villanova product to provide some extra depth at the forward position.

Early on in the second round on Thursday, Paschall was considered one of those players still available who would seem like a steal for whatever team ended up selecting him, and the Warriors would love nothing more than for that to turn out to be the case.

Back in 2018, Paschall was one of the main reasons behind Villanova’s epic March Madness run to secure a second title in three years for the Wildcats, although he unfortunately missed the first one since it came before his transfer from Fordham.

Still, they say everything happens for a reason, and words can’t even describe how happy the school was to see Paschall transfer when he did to put together three solid seasons with the Wildcats.

Most importantly, Villanova fans will always remember Paschall during the team’s tournament run in 2018, whether it was the double-double (12 points and 14 rebounds) in the Elite 8 against Texas Tech or dropping 24 points in the Final Four to help defeat Kansas.

As for what to expect from Paschall now that’s a member of Golden State, well like most rookies, the young forward will most likely be dealing with some growing pains while adjusting to playing at the NBA level.

Then again, with the Warriors dealing with injuries to key players such as Kevin Durant and Klay Thompson heading into next season, Paschall could end up seeing more action than originally expected in his first NBA season, so it will be interesting to see how this all plays out.

Either way, the fact that Paschall was considered a top prospect leading up to the draft, and happened to land on one of the best teams the NBA has to offer in the Warriors seems to have potential written all over it moving forward.

At the end of the day, there’s a reason why Golden State has managed to dominate opponents for the most part the way they have over the years, and in good time, Paschall could end up being one of the biggest steals from this year’s draft class if he manages to live up to the hype.