SALT LAKE CITY – Deep down, the plan for Simi Shittu was always to enter the NBA bursting with upside and potential after completing a one-and-done college season.
Technically, things are still going according to plan.
The only problem is Shittu didn’t get enough done in that one-and-done season at Vanderbilt to propel himself into the NBA via the lottery, the first round or even as a selection at all in last month’s draft. So a little more than a year removed from playing in the McDonald’s All-American prep game and entering Vanderbilt as the highest-rated recruit in program history, Shittu is grinding from the ground up.