Jamie Shaw of Rivals is wasting no time buying stock in Matt Able leading up to the 2026-2027 college basketball season.
Heading into his sophomore season, Able is making the rare transition from Raleigh to Chapel Hill, having transferred from NC State to North Carolina. A guy who drew a ton of NBA Draft buzz after his freshman season, Able is now projected to not only be a rising star at the college ranks, but also be firmly in the mix as a first round pick in the 2027 draft class.
While the jury is still out on Able's NBA stock, there are plenty of media outlets who believe that Able is destined to be a first-round pick. After Rivals revealed its way-too-early mock draft, Shaw broke down some of the players he's higher on than most, a list that he started off with Able.
Jamie Shaw has very high expectations for Matt Able
Able ranked as the No. 21 overall player in this projection, one that slots him as a closer to back-end NBA Draft selection. However, Shaw believes his ceiling is much higher, making the prediction that Able could find his way into the draft lottery.
Here's what Shaw had to say regarding Able:
Matt Able is a late-bloomer as a prospect, not firmly establishing himself on the high-major scene until the summer before his senior year of high school. Once he gained that confidence, his game took off. Able has positional size, listed on the UNC roster at 6-foot-6 and 205 pounds, with quality length. For me, the aspect of his game that could really take it to the next level is his ability to dribble, shoot, and pass to an advantage. Last season, at NC State, Able shot 37.2 percent from three on 4.3 attempts per game in ACC play. He did not really show his ball-handling or ball-moving skills, but things could open up a little bit for him as he is a year older and in a new system under first-year UNC head coach Michael Malone. At this point, I would probably have him closer to the back-end of the NBA Draft lottery. He still has to take the year-one-to-year-two step, but he offers a lot of scalable tools.
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With a year of college experience under his belt, Able has the opportunity to take his game to a new level under Michael Malone's direction. The key for him will be to showcase that he's much more than just a shooter, even though his calling card is his ability to knock down shots beyond-the-arc.
Able will use the feedback he received from NBA scouts this offseason to help him improve upon his game, and what better coach to have help him do that than a guy who won a championship as the head coach of the Denver Nuggets?
The UNC basketball program is excited to bring Able into the fold, believing he will be a tremendous asset for them moving forward. If all goes well, Able will have an incredible sophomore season, leading UNC to a ton of wins before taking his talents to the NBA as a lottery pick in the upcoming draft class.
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