Champaign-Urbana native and Illini senior guard Kylan Boswell has dreamed of playing in the NBA since he was a kid. But unlike most kids who want to be a basketball player when they’re in elementary school, Boswell is still pursuing that dream – and it’s on the verge of coming true.
Eight years after leading Urbana Middle School to a state final appearance, Boswell helped lead Illinois to a Final Four and was invited to participate at the NBA Draft Combine in Chicago this week. 60 players will hear their names called in late June, and Boswell hopes that his name will be one of them.
“That’s your lifelong goal,” Boswell said to reporters on Wednesday. “It’s been since fifth grade, you know, that dream. And now it’s becoming more of a reality. I don’t give a damn what pick I am. I don’t care what team I go to. It’s just all the work you put in to get to that point. …Getting a chance to play in the NBA is just a goal, and I think I’ve put myself in the best position I can to get to that point.”
Since Illinois’ season ended at the Final Four in early April, Boswell has been all-in on preparing for the draft. First up was the Portsmouth Invitational Tournament, the premier pre-draft scouting event for college seniors, from April 15-18. A month later, it was time for the Draft Combine. This week, Boswell went through all of the league’s strength and agility testing, participated in two 5-on-5 scrimmages in front of front office personnel and met with teams he didn’t speak to at the PIT.
Boswell is projected as a fringe second round pick in most mock drafts. That puts him in the range to likely receive a two-way contract opportunity, meaning he will spend a lot of time developing in the NBA G League and playing spot NBA minutes. In the G League, he may have the ball in his hands a lot, but to really carve out a role in the NBA, teams have told him that they need him to do the little things, especially as a defender.
“I’ve met with about 27, 28 teams,” Boswell said. “A lot of them like me. The main thing they want to see is just my effort on both ends of the court, facilitating the best way I can. A team isn’t picking me up because they need me to go out there and score for them. My job is, for whatever team I get on, is to guard the best way I can, have the right mentality, facilitate and that’s all I’ve been trying to do.”
At Illinois, Boswell was a key part of the team’s success, but he sacrificed shots and the primary ballhandler role for two first-round freshmen talents: Kasparas Jakučionis and Keaton Wagler. What really made Boswell stand out was his vocal leadership, lockdown on-ball defense and ability to adjust to different roles on a nightly basis. It’s those traits that NBA teams will want from him, and the second half of his college career prepared him for that expectation.
“Selflessness – I feel like that’s been just kind of my character in the last 2 years of just growing as a person, as a man, and like I said, no team is going to take me to do that (scoring) role,” Boswell said. “100% just shows I can be a role player in whatever team that takes me and operate in that system.”
Although scoring won’t be at the top of the request list from most teams who consider giving Boswell an opportunity, he recognizes that having a complete game is still important. Although Boswell was a strong 3-point shooter his first two seasons of college at Arizona, he hasn’t had the same success since transferring to Illinois. Boswell shot just 27.2% from deep while repping the orange and blue – a number that needs to rise to improve his NBA outlook.
“Finding my f—ing shot would be nice,” Boswell said. “Getting the ball to drop in the rim again would be awesome. …I have the utmost confidence in myself. I came into college, my whole high school career was known as a shooter. It’s somewhere there, and I’ll figure it out. Whatever team I get with, I’ll sit down with their shooting coach, see if there’s any tweaks … but just a lot of reps and continuing to stay confident.”
At the Draft Combine, Boswell shot 3 for 9 from deep across two 5-on-5 scrimmages, but at the PIT, he made just 1 of 10 triples. Working on making his shot consistent will be a priority, but his other tools still make him a strong option as a late second round choice. Boswell is a willing passer; he dished out 3 assists in each of his Draft Combine scrimmages and averaged 10.3 assists across three games at the PIT. His defensive focus, exemplified by a pair of four-steal games at the PIT, is also extremely valuable since teams won’t have to ask twice for effort on that end of the floor.
For Boswell, everything boils down to confidence. He plays with a swagger, exuding a strong belief in himself even during the toughest of game situations. Carrying that mentality into whatever challenges the next level presents, such as improving his shot, is key to finding success. Boswell has many of the keys to be an NBA-level talent – but he still needs to prove himself and continue to develop. Boswell will train in California this upcoming week to get in better shape, followed by multiple NBA workouts that will give him a chance to showcase his game up-close to team decision makers.
“I think confidence is huge for all this,” Boswell said. “Somebody too who isn’t heavily on the draft boards or looked at in that aspect, continue to believe in myself, put the work in. There’s a reason we all got invited here and there’s a reason I get to have this opportunity to play at the Combine.”
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