UVA hoops alums Reece Beekman, Ryan Dunn earn invites to NBA Draft Combine

Virginia alums Reece Beekman and Ryan Dunn are among the 78 college and international prospects to get invites to the 2024 NBA Draft Combine.

For Beekman, a four-year starter at UVA, it will be a return visit.

Beekman looked good in two scrimmages in the 2023 combine, scoring 15 points on 6-of-11 shooting, 1-of-1 from three, 2-of-2 at the line, with five rebounds, four assists, one steal and two turnovers in 22:54 of floor time off the bench in one scrimmage, and going for eight points on 2-of-8 shooting, 1-of-2 from three, 3-of-4 at the line, with one rebound, five assists, three steals and two turnovers in 21:19 of floor time in a second scrimmage.

Beekman was a projected mid-second-round pick last year, and decided to return for his senior season, in which he put up career numbers – 14.3 points, 6.3 rebounds and 2.0 assists per game, shooting 44.3 percent from the floor overall and 31.0 percent from three.

Beekman was also named the ACC Defensive Player of the Year for a second straight season.

Dunn is a projected second-half-of-the-first-round pick in this year’s draft, based totally on his defense and potential.

It’s certainly not his counting numbers – Dunn, as a first-year starter in 2023-2024, averaged 8.1 points, 6.9 rebounds and 2.3 blocked shots per game, shooting 54.8 percent from the floor, 20.0 percent from three and 53.2 percent at the free-throw line.

Dunn has almost no offensive game. He shot 22.4 percent (11-of-49) on jumpers this past season, getting almost all of his offense at the rim (90-of-134, 67.2 percent).

Down the stretch of the 2023-2024 season, Dunn was practically missing in action on the offensive end. In his last 14 games, Dunn averaged 5.2 points per game on 47.1 percent shooting from the floor, 1-of-10 shooting from three and 6-of-17 shooting at the line.

Even as a projected first-round pick, I’d expect to see Dunn splitting his time between the NBA and G League next season to get regular minutes and to work on his offense.

Beekman is a projected second-round pick, but he’s by far the more NBA-ready of the two, and I’d expect Beekman to play his way onto an NBA roster and contend for rotation minutes as a rookie next season.