Roundup: Who will take the gamble on Marquese Chriss?

Jonathan Tjarks of The Ringer writes that Marquese Chriss is the biggest gamble of the NBA Draft. He’s so young and has only played the game since he was 14, but Tjarks says he has the potential to block shots, switch screens, shoot 3s, roll to the rim and post up all at a high level, and one talent evaluator Tjarks talked to said Chriss is the best athlete in the draft.

Aaron Falk of The Salt Lake Tribune ponders whether or not Jakob Poeltl could “slip” to the Jazz at No. 12. Poeltl and Rudy Gobert would make for one helluva young frontcourt, not to mention Derrick Favors.

Connor Letourneau tells us that former Cal basketball player Tyrone Wallace is a fringe NBA Draft prospect. He might have to work his way on to a roster via Summer League, but there’s a million places you can play for pay outside of the NBA.

Bruce Pascoe writes that potential NBA draftees from Arizona will have a shot to play in the NBA even if they don’t get drafted. Exhibit A: T.J. McConnell, even if he was on the 10-72 Philadelphia 76ers.

Bright Side of the Sun, a Phoenix Suns SB Nation blog, predicts that Phoenix will take Gary Payton II with the No. 25 pick that they don’t currently have (there were some fantastical trades to get to that point). I can assure you this won’t happen, but The Oregonian/OregonLive was down at the time of scouring and there was nothing on OSUBeavers.com, so what’s a link curator to do? No disrespect to the folks at Bright Side of the Sun, of course.

Pat Rooney reports that Colorado basketball guard George King had surgery on his right foot last week to remove a bone spur. Fear not, though, because he should be back at full strength for the start of practice in the fall.

Nice – Arizona State football has scheduled a home-and-home series with Oklahoma State for 2022 (Oklahoma State) and 2023 (ASU).

Jacob Thorpe discusses the changing expectations of Washington State football. The Cougs haven’t been picked to finish better than ninth in the Pac-12 over the last five years, but that should change in 2016.

Here’s some fightin’ words – former Alabama offensive lineman and current San Diego Charger D.J. Fluker says that Alabama will “steamroll USC.” The teams meet Sept. 3 in Arlington.

Looks like UCLA football has new customizable jerseys to player and position, Thuc Nhi Nguyen of Inside UCLA notes.

Stanford men’s volleyball alums Kawika and Erik Shoji have been named to the U.S. Olympic team roster. The brothers helped lead the Card to the 2010 NCAA title.

Austin Meek of The Register-Guard whips up this feature on Oregon women’s lacrosse after it introduced new head coach Katrina Dowd in a press conference Monday. He talks about how the Ducks want to help grow the game and also goes into Dowd’s background.