Deacs in the Pros: A John Collins update

As the current Wake Forest basketball squad is struggling, a former player who helped the Demon Deacons make their most recent NCAA Tournament is finally gaining national recognition for his strong play in the NBA.

Forward John Collins has been solid for the Atlanta Hawks this season. As of January 10th, Collins has averaged 18.8 points per game, 10.6 rebounds per game, and 2.3 assists per game. Even though his scoring has improved dramatically (10.5 his rookie year to 18.8 this season), Collins has also been efficient as well, improving his field goal percentage to 58.2% overall while shooting 34.5% from three. Ironically, a reason many teams weren’t high on Collins was his perceived inability to shoot the three as he took one career three point shot in college.

Although Collins continues to be overshadowed by draft class mates like Jayson Tatum, Lauri Markkanen, Lonzo Ball, and Donovan Mitchell, people are slowly but surely seeing his impactful game.

Last night, Collins tied his career high of 30 points while also grabbing 14 rebounds.

Good luck the rest of the season and thank you for representing Wake Forest well at the next level.

(Highlights from his career high tying game last night)