On the Beat: Frontcour Prospect, College Vets to Visit Wednesday

PHILADELPHIA – The 76ers’ busy week of prospect evaluations will continue Wednesday, when they conduct another six-man workout at the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine.  From this latest group of invitees to team headquarters, only University of Nevada – Las Vegas center Stephen Zimmerman is considered a candidate to be drafted on June 23rd. The freshman could either go late in the first round, or midway through the second round, depending on which mock draft you read. In addition to Zimmerman, the Sixers will also bring in Michigan State’s Bryn Forbes, Grand Canyon’s Grandy Glaze, Hawaii’s Stefan Jankovic, Alabama’s Retin Obasohan, and Northeastern’s David Walker.  All but Zimmerman spent at least four years at the NCAA level.A sturdy, 19-year old forward boasting 7’0″ tall, 240 pound frame, Zimmerman started 24 of his 26 appearances for UNLV last season.  He made contributions on both ends of the court, averaging 10.5 points and 8.7 rebounds per game, while recording 11 double-doubles.  Zimmerman finished the year ranked second in the Mountain West Conference in blocked shots, averaging 2.0 swats per game. Forbes started at guard for a Michigan State team that received a two-seed in this year’s NCAA Tournament.  He had his fair share of explosive games, racking up 29 points at Michigan in February, before burying 33 points in a trip to Rutgers in the beginning of March.  Forbes, who left Cleveland State to join the Spartans in 2014, topped the Big 10 with 112 three-point field goals, and an impressive 48.1 three-point shooting percentage.  The latter figure was also good for second-best in the nation. After starting his collegiate career at Saint Louis, Glaze, a 235-pound forward, exhausted his NCAA eligibility last year as a graduate student at Division II Grand Canyon.  The Toronto, Ontario native put up quality numbers for the Phoenix-based school, generating 14.0 points and 8.8 rebounds per game.  He shot 59.6 percent from the field, and turned in five separate 20-point performances.  Former Phoenix Suns All-Star Dan Majerle was Glaze’s head coach at Grand Canyon, where the business school is named in honor of Sixers special advisor Jerry Colangelo.  Jankovic is yet another transfer who will be participating in Wednesday’s tryout.  Despite getting minimal playing time at Missouri as a freshman, the 6’11” tall Serbian went on to enjoy a productive two-year stint at Hawaii.  Jankovic earned 2016 Big West Player of the Year honors following a junior season in which he churned out 15.6 points and 6.6 rebounds per game.  He also tallied a career-high 33 three-pointers. Obasohan’s accomplishments on the court as a senior for Alabama were arguably exceeded by his achievements off it.  Not only did Obasohan serve as co-captain of the Tide, and average 17.6 points per game, he was recognized as the Southeastern Conference Scholar Athlete of the Year.  Born in Antwerp, Belgium, Obasohan was named to the SEC All-Defensive Team as well.  He landed a spot on the Under-20 team that represented Belgium at the European Championship five years ago, and is a candidate for a master’s degree in marketing.Walker, a lanky guard, rewrote portions of the Northeastern record book over the course of his four-year career.  He proved to be the most durable student-athlete in program history, logging 1,263 minutes.  Last season, he canned 97 three-pointers, another all-time Huskies mark.  Walker began his final campaign by dropping 27 points on Boston University, the alma mater of Brett Brown.  His 17.9 points per game was the best average in the Colonial Athletic Association. Wednesday is the Sixers’ seventh day of pre-draft workouts this spring.