The 2026 NBA Draft Combine is taking place in Chicago this week, and Louisville basketball has been represented by two players. Mikel Brown Jr. and Ryan Conwell were both invited to the NBA Combine, giving them a huge opportunity to prove their skills and to try to climb up in the 2026 NBA Draft board.
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While Brown missed 14 games this past season, his teammate in Chicago gave him nothing but praise. Conwell was asked about Brown in multiple questions, and when Conwell was asked why Brown is the best guard in the NBA Draft this year, Brown’s former teammate gave him high praise.
Ryan Conwell gives Mikel Brown Jr. high praise at NBA Combine
Brown is an elite guard who can take over a game with his confident 3-point shooting but also has the speed and athleticism to twitch through the paint and rise up for a monster dunk. When Conwell was asked about Brown’s game and why he is the best guard in the draft, he kept it simple and just emphasized, “not much he can’t do.”
“Just how he sees the game,” Conwell stated. “Just at such a young age, he was only in college for a year, but the reads he makes, the way he just sees the game, the way he’s able to process the game. Everyone knows his God-given talent too, but I mean, it’s really not much he can’t do. I think, yeah.”
Brown and Conwell only played together this season, but the two formed an elite backcourt duo. Each averaged over 18 points, and both shot over 40 percent from the field. Brown is trending towards a top-10 pick in the 2026 NBA Draft, while it seems Conwell will be selected in the 30s, likely early in the second round.
Right now, it seems like Brown will go around that No. 7- No. 9 range with a lot of fans circling the Mavs as a perfect spot for him. It will be the first time a Cardinal has been selected in the first round since Donovan Mitchell in 2017 and the first Cardinal selected in the top 10 since Samaki Walker in the 1996 NBA Draft, when he went No. 9.
Also read: Louisville's Mikel Brown Jr. may have just pointed to his dream draft destination
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