Boswell remains confident in potential NBA future

May 15—CHICAGO — Kylan Boswell's NBA dream started to develop when he was in the fifth grade growing up in Champaign.

His evolution into a five-star recruit in high school gave credence to the idea. At 18 years old, ahead of his sophomore season at Arizona, first-round projections had started to formalize.

That's not the draft reality the now 21-year-old Boswell currently faces. His draft stock has changed during the course of his college basketball career, and he understands where he sits on most NBA draft boards.

A late second-round pick. In the best-case scenario.

What hasn't changed, however, is Boswell's internal belief — an underlying confidence — about what he can yet achieve.

"Where I'm projected is not a concept to me," Boswell said. "I know I can belong in the NBA. I know I can have an impact in the NBA. The trust in all of that is huge.

"I don't give a damn what pick I am. I don't care what team I go to. At the end of the day, if my path didn't come and I go undrafted, getting the chance to play in the NBA is the goal. I think I put myself in the best position I can to get to that point."

Boswell has been on the go since Illinois' season ended in a Final Four loss in Indianapolis in early April. California has become his home base again — much like it did during his formative high school years — but he hasn't even seen the West Coast that much.

Boswell wound up an all-tournament team selection at the Portsmouth Invitational Tournament in late April after flashing as both a scorer and facilitator. An invitation to the NBA draft combine followed, where he put up solid results in both the anthropometric and strength and agility testing this week.

Boswell met with nearly all of the 30 NBA organizations in Portsmouth, Va., and added meetings with the Minnesota Timberwolves and Indiana Pacers on Wednesday in Chicago. The last piece is individual or small group workouts with interested NBA teams — something Boswell saved for after the combine.

"It was purposefully to get in better shape," Boswell said about putting off workouts until later this month. "The whole thing is being right, physically, when those teams want me to work out. Even if I need to go back-to-back, I'll have the right physical capability to do it.

"I'll get back to California, prepare for another week or so and then I'll have a bunch of my workouts back-to-back. The feedback (from the meetings), a lot of them like me. The main thing they want to see is just my effort on both ends of the court and facilitating the best way I can."