There's 'genuine interest' for Chris Silva from NBA teams

Over the last few months, since his illustrious Gamecock career ended in March, Chris Silva’s been on a mission to get to the NBA, a dream that could come to fruition Thursday night.

He’s spent the time leading up to tonight’s NBA Draft working out for teams and, as his potential moment approaches, his head coach says interest is starting to pick up for the Gamecocks’ big man.

“There’s genuine interest on Chris right now,” Martin said. “My phone’s been really busy the last 48 hours and it’s mostly about Chris; I’m also getting calls about Brian Bowen, but it’s mostly been about Chris. There’s a lot of realization because he’s had great workouts and people are able to engage with him. He’s such a beautiful kid.”

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The last Gamecock player to hear his name called in the draft was Sindarius Thornwell, Silva’s teammate for two seasons, who went No. 48 overall to the Clippers in 2017.

This offseason Silva’s worked out for teams like the Hornets and Kings and, while he didn’t get an invite to the NBA Combine, he did participate in the Pro BBall combine where he was able to showcase his skills to NBA scouts.

So while he might not be getting the same attention other bigs in this year’s draft are getting, Martin still thinks Silva has the resume and the accolades to be a draftee tonight.

“I’m not in the NBA, I’m not into comparing things. I’m not into saying he did this and they didn’t do that to benefit Chris’s profile,” Martin said. “His resume speaks for himself. I know this: he’s performed a lot better over a longer period of time head to head and won more games than a lot of guys that are supposedly going to get drafted.”

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Silva arrived on campus as a raw, athletic freshman out of Roselle Catholic in New Jersey and quickly morphed into one of the better big men in the SEC.

He’d be a key piece during the team’s Final Four run before earning the SEC’s Co-Defensive Player of the Year in 2018 and ended his career with a first-team All-SEC nod and two seasons on the conference’s All-Defense team.

As a senior he averaged 15.2 points, 7.6 rebounds and shot 50 percent from the field. During the course of his career he racked up 1,509 points and 876 rebounds over his great college career.

“I get it,” Martin said. “He wasn’t a sexy recruit coming out of high school so all the recruiting gurus coming out of high school so it’s hard to give him credit when it’s time to be a pro because they didn’t think he’d be good enough back in the day.”

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Silva’s made a lot of strides the last few years from a leadership and game standpoint, blossoming into a vocal leader his last two years on campus and averaging over 14 points over that same stretch.

So only time will tell if Silva hears his name called, and that time is coming sooner rather than later for the Gamecocks’ big.

He doesn’t know exactly what will happen tonight, but both he and Martin think Silva’s game translates well to the next level.

Both rounds of the draft are Thursday starting at 7 p.m. on ESPN and both Hassani Gravett and Tre Campbell could also hear their names called tonight.

“A lot of people tell me my game translates to the NBA,” Silva said after the season. “Nowadays you have to get by guards and my athleticism is a huge part of it. My motor and the way I play defense. In the NBA, everybody tries to play offense so my defense is probably going to make me look different than anybody else.”