Rasheer Fleming has all the physical attributes that will make NBA scouts salivate in anticipation of what he can become. At 6-foot-8 with a wingspan of over 7-foot-5, Fleming has all the tools to defend two to five, with the athletic burst to stay in front of players on the perimeter.
Fleming is currently projected to be in the first round, with whispers around the NBA Draft Combine that he could potentially climb into the lottery.
Fleming spoke with HoopsHype just before the Combine about his ascension during his junior year, his player comps, his preference to play without the spotlight on him, and more.
In terms of your process, what happened between where you were last year to now that helped you make the jump?
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Rasheer Fleming: It’s way different than last year. Now I’ve been waking up at a really good time and getting in the gym real early and then staying in the workout until about 2 pm. We basically wake up, get here to the gym, film room, get ready for the warmup stuff. Then we go on the court, just work out for about two hours, something like that. All efficient work. Then we get off the court, get a lot of treatment, go into a Lyft, and then we get off for a second workout on the court.
You talk about your preparation and process to become a better player. When did you realize you needed someone to talk to you about changing your process like your diet and everything else?
RF: I’ve always heard it, but I didn’t really take heat of it as much until my sophomore/junior year when it came to me eating right and having at least a balance with eating healthy, knowing when to eat healthy, knowing when to eat a little normal. It’s just been about having a balance, like I said, not overdoing a crazy diet, ’cause you don’t wanna get nutrients from the cereal bars, you wanna get more from eating healthy. So yeah, just having a balance and I kinda picked that up, I’d say, my sophomore/junior year.
You made a huge jump as a player from the previous season to the one you just had. What changed?
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RF: The consistency of my jump shot. I feel like, and being able to just constantly to guard multiple positions, I feel like, was the biggest leap.
Did you feel like you could have always been this productive or do you think you needed the chance to get the reps in to get to where you are now?
RF: I feel like I could always do it. I just picked up more on it by doing it more and more. But I always felt like I could always do it, especially when it came to guarding, even shooting. I’ve always been confident in my shot, but it’s been falling more ’cause of the work and just being confident in shooting and games.
What is some of the most important advice that your coach, Billy Lange, gave you?
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RF: To just stay who I am. I feel like that’s a pretty big thing. ‘Cause he knows how my game has been all around, so he knows how everything is with the process and how guys like change, like fall for different types of stuff. He just told me to stay how I am and like just remain humble and just be the person I am, and go out there and do everything else that’s gonna follow.
Who do you feel are your comps in the NBA?
RF: I’m really my own player, I feel like. But if I could like see myself being in somebody’s like type of position from watching the playoffs, I could see myself in like the Naz Reid type of role or Jaden McDaniels, like OG Anunoby, those type of guys. Like they kinda do everything on the court, I feel like, for me in that type of position.
Defensively, where do you feel like you need to improve the most?
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RF: Just keep working on moving my feet with guards. Like I said, I feel like I can guard multiple positions, but it’s just about moving my feet and making sure I’m having the right techniques when I’m guarding those different guys.
So in terms of your game offensively, you would say you’re pretty much like a stretch forward. You can shoot the three, get to the rim and do a lot of things, like a mismatch for a lot of teams. I know in the NBA level, spacing is more prevalent than in college. So there’s a lot more room to operate for you. What are your thoughts on that?
RF: I agree with that. There’s a certain thing that I’ve done in college that kind of like, I might get plucked at the time because it’s basically different, but I feel like because of the spacing in the NBA, there’s so much different stuff I could do, I would go to do it without getting plucked and all that stuff because of the spacing. So it’s really different, like it’s exciting actually.
What parts of your game do you feel like you need to work on to take your game to the next level?
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RF: Doing more when the ball is in my hands. Like whether that’s making plays for my teammates or not, but when the ball is in my hands, just making sure like being able to know what to do with it. Like if I’m in a pick and roll situation. You know what I’m saying? Like you come up with a pick and roll, like just knowing how to read the game more when the ball is in my hands, I feel like that’s gonna be a big leap for me to work on.
Was that sort of a big thing you were working on this past season?
RF: Yes and no. It got to a point where I was just solely focusing on like different stuff, but it wasn’t a lot of like the ball was in my hands type of situation.
In terms of your three-point shot, do you feel like you can be more than just a catch-and-shoot kinda guy?
RF: Yeah, for sure. And that stuff will end up translating more so. Like, even if it doesn’t translate my first year, it’s all going to be work going in. It’s all going to progress as my career goes on. So I can start off as like a three-point guy, but I can, you know, progress just like doing a little bit of everything.
Have you talked to any NBA players who’ve given you good advice in your journey?
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RF: Yeah, Draymond Green. I met him one time, it was Draymond and LeBron after a game. And he was just telling me some things and letting me know to just keep going. Like, don’t stop on the effort part of it. All this stuff comes on and you’re working on your game, but like some guys, you get to the level where you don’t show the same effort that you have before, like on both sides of the game. So yeah, kind of pushed me to keep doing that.
I was confident regardless, but I think it was really good to hear from those guys at that level.
In high school, you played behind the attention of DJ Wagner and Aaron Bradshaw. Did you take that a certain way or not? Did you like that they had the attention and you could just focus on yourself without all that added pressure?
RF: No, no, no. They’re great players, so they deserved everything they had at the time and even now, like they still deserve what they get, but at the time, I think it was good for me too because I was able to keep working on myself behind the scenes and doing stuff off camera. Like they were being shown, doing what they do on camera. And I was just able to just keep working. I was working with those guys too every day. Those guys are great players. So I was able to just do the things without the attention.
If you had as much attention as they did at the time, do you feel like you would be better off now or worse off?
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RF: I’m not sure, but I’m glad it went how it went because I would rather not get the attention.
Who would you say was the biggest influence on your life growing up?
RF: Biggest influence, I would say probably my mom. Like she’s always been there, like every step of the way, when it comes to the games and all that type of stuff. Obviously the Lord, because I wouldn’t be here without Him. And He’s also been here every step of the way. And I grew up playing basketball at a young age. So like with my dad and stuff, I would say my mom and my dad, they always like, just like always, it was always fun for me like playing basketball. So I would say those two.
Did they kind of help you develop that joy for basketball?
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RF: Yeah, it really came from a competition standpoint of it, because playing one-on-one with my dad, he would make sure I wouldn’t win any games. Like I will always try to get to that level of beating him one-on-one. So I found joy in that, though, from a young age.
Who’s your GOAT?
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RF: Bron. ‘Cause he can do everything. He can do everything. Like as a player, if I was like, if I want any player on my team, I’m choosing LeBron because he can do everything from one through five. He can guard the opposition. He can handle the ball. He can shoot the ball. And he has, I feel like, one of the greatest IQs ever to play the game.
The way you said that and you kind of smirked a little. Do you feel like LeBron is the clear cut, like there’s no one even close to LeBron in terms of that?
RF: I feel like MJ and his influence, like you can’t beat that. He has the influence and at his time, it was nobody, like if you think of basketball, you’re thinking of Jordan. So I think MJ got that, but like if we talking about like greatest player of all time I’m saying Bron.
Growing up for you, what players were you invested in watching on YouTube?
RF: Bron. Yeah, Bron for sure. I grew up watching his games when I was younger. And KD. I always loved KD’s games.
