Patrick Baldwin Jr. entered this past college basketball season with high expectations as the No. 5 overall recruit in his class, per ESPN’s rankings. Following an injury-shortened freshman campaign, Baldwin Jr. is out to show why he’s still the highly touted prospect with upside many executives had their eye on to start the season.
In our latest HoopsHype aggregate mock draft, Baldwin Jr. projects as a late first-round pick, but he believes his stock will rise after he begins team workouts.
Baldwin Jr. told HoopsHype he plans on staying in the 2022 draft and has an upcoming workout with the Oklahoma City Thunder.
Check out more from his conversation with HoopsHype, including why he played for his dad at the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee instead of a traditional college powerhouse, player comparisons for his game, his long-term goals, and much more in our interview below.
What’s something that people don’t know about you off the court?
Baldwin Jr.: I love to get outdoors. I don’t think that’s something people typically know about me. Being in a gym for the amount of time I am and in a cold city in Milwaukee, when it finally does get warm, it’s nice to go for a bike ride. I don’t have any big hobbies. I collect trading cards. I buy them from Target and rip them open to see what I get. Other than that, it’s basketball.
You played college basketball for your dad after passing on Duke, Kentucky and UNC. Why did you make that choice, and what are your thoughts on it now?
Baldwin Jr.: I thought it would’ve been a situation where we both could have helped each other out a little bit. I thought I could’ve gone there and learned a ton of stuff from him in my one year under his wing, basically. I think had things gone to plan, and injuries factored into that, I thought we could’ve had a pretty good year. It had been 18 years in the works for me and my dad. The second I was born, he dreamt about this. As I became 16 and 17, I realized how special…