Wrentham’s Jake Layman waits to see where he lands in NBA draft

Jake Layman will be with his family Thursday night, watching the NBA draft at home in Wrentham. Where he will be after that, though, remains to be determined.

Layman, the 6-foot-9, 208-pound forward and a 2012 graduate of King Philip Regional High, just completed his four-year basketball career at Maryland. He is scheduled to fly to Los Angeles on Sunday to work out for the Clippers on Monday, the 10th and final team he’ll have met with in the three weeks leading up to the draft.

“It’s still too early to know,” Layman said. “Up until draft night I really won’t know what teams really like me, what teams don’t really like me. You go in, you do these workouts, they say, ‘Great job.’ And then that’s really it. That’s why it’s so stressful because you really never know.

“I think for me, no matter where I go I think teams are looking for the athletic wing, 6-9, who can shoot and guard all four spots. So I think wherever I go I’ll be able to fit in right away.”

Some mock drafts have him possibly going to his hometown Celtics, with one of their eight overall picks. Or maybe the Pistons. Or the Rockets. Or the Clippers. The Celtics were the first team he worked out for.

“That’d be a dream come true,” he said of being picked by the Green. “Growing up always being in that area, I was a huge fan of that team. That’s every kid’s childhood dream, to play for the team they grew up being a fan of.”

At Maryland, Layman was an honorable mention All-Big Ten selection this year, one of just 12 players in school history with 1,400 (1,436) points and 600 (674) rebounds. He helped the Terps to their first Sweet Sixteen appearance since 2003 and matched his career high with 27 points against South Dakota State in the first round of the tournament.

He could have left after his junior year, but opted to return to school, finishing his basketball career and graduating.

“It was huge,” he said of graduation. “School definitely didn’t come easy for me. It was definitely a grind for me over these last four years. So to finally graduate and get through it, it was a very good feeling. My parents were very proud of me.”

His favorite basketball memory, so far?

“I think being at Maryland,” he said. “Just the memory of my four years there, where I started, how I fit, and kind of helping get the Maryland program back to where it should be, where it’s in the tournament every year and winning a lot of games, with the fans excited for basketball. So I think that’s the biggest memory I’ll take away from all this.”

Layman, who models his game after the Jazz’s 6-8, 226-pound forward Gordon Hayward, believes his on-court versatility will be an asset.

“My versatility is something that I’ve been trying to show these teams in these workouts and in the past four years at Maryland,” he said. “I’m a guy who can shoot it, play the three and the four also, a pick-and-pop guy, and can guard multiple spots on the floor also. I’ve been stressing to these teams how versatile I can be.”

This process is very different than when he was choosing a college, deciding among Syracuse, Louisville and Florida before selecting Maryland. He has a much better idea of the kind of player he is now and what he can offer a team.

Now it’s just a matter of waiting.

http://www.bostonherald.com/sports/celtics/2016/06/wrentham_s_jake_layman_waits_to_see_where_he_lands_in_nba_draft