Rob Dillingham is just one of a handful of Kentucky Wildcat guards whose public profile has been a point of conversation as the NCAA Tournament begins, but as March has arrived, it's Dillingham whose star is ascending the fastest and highest. Less than two weeks ago, while performing at Rupp Arena in Lexington, noted Kentucky fan Drake brought the freshman guard onto the stage during his concert, which, as you would expect, effectively got Big Blue Nation on their feet.
Drake gave Rob Dillingham a shoutout and brought him on stage during his concert tonight at Rupp Arena!
😼🏀🦉 #BBN pic.twitter.com/Q2B59ObaFO
— Jordan Adams (@Jordan_Adams4) March 11, 2024
A cameo appearance alongside Drizzy is just part of the reason why Dillingham, a 6'2″ combo guard from Hickory, North Carolina, is among the most profitable NIL athletes in the NCAA today — in fact, he's currently listed as the #4 most valuable player in college basketball. In recent weeks, Dillingham signed on “with the clothing brand SKIMS and NerdWallet, a personal finance company. The top-20 recruit in the 2023 class also signed with Topps this week and has done extensive work with Donatos and Lexington’s Paul Miller Ford throughout this season,” according to Pete Nakos of On3. Dillingham will be partnering with USC women's star Juju Watkins for NerdWallet, and is starring alongside Hunter Dickinson (Kansas), Caleb Love (Arizona), Donovan Clingan (Connecticut), Jared McCain (Duke), and Paxson Wojcik (NC State) in advertisements for Kim Kardashian's SKIMS brand.
Rob Dillingham's NBA Draft status
Of course, if Rob Dillingham were riding Kentucky's bench, his NIL earnings likely wouldn't be nearly as high. In Nakos' aforementioned On3 article, he notes that in the last ten weeks, “Dillingham has seen his valuation climb $402,000.” It's not a coincidence that in the fourteen games that Kentucky has played over two months, he's taken a clear step forward. In those fourteen games, Dillingham is scoring 17.3 points per game on scalding hot 51-52-82 shooting splits. Those splits alone, and the fact that Dillingham was taking nearly 5 three-pointers per game in that stretch, will have NBA scouts drooling over the prospect of selecting Kentucky's freshman guard.
According to ClutchPoints' own Enzo Flojo, Dillingham is firmly in the mix to be one of two Kentucky guards to be selected in the lottery, along with fellow freshman Reed Sheppard, though Sheppard's draft status doesn't seem to be as clear as his teammate's, given the Sheppard family's long history with the University. It's hard to imagine Rob Dillingham coming back to Lexington if an NBA team is prepared to use a top ten pick on him, and Enzo Flojo isn't the only mock drafter who sees Dillingham as a lottery pick. Kevin O'Connor of The Ringer has Dillingham going 8th overall to Houston, while Jonathan Wasserman of Bleacher Report has him being selected 2nd overall.
Where Dillingham ends up being selected in June could come down to how both he and Kentucky perform in the NCAA Tournament. We've seen players go on March Madness runs before which helped their draft status, and both Kentucky and Dillingham looks like prime candidates to fit such a description this year.
Follow Us
Subscribe