2025 NBA Draft: Ryan Conwell Scouting Report

After defeating Tre Johnson and the Texas Longhorns on Wednesday, the Xavier Musketeers are set to face the Illinois Fighting Irish in the first round of the 2025 NCAA Tournament. Led by Kasparas Jakucionis, who like Johnson is projected to be a top-10 pick in the upcoming NBA Draft, Illinois will be a favored to win. However, Xavier boasts a solid defense and an even better offense, the latter of which is largely courtesy of Ryan Conwell.

2025 NBA Draft: Ryan Conwell Scouting Report

Zach Freemantle, a fifth-year senior with a noteworthy inside game, leads the Musketeers in scoring with 17.3 points per game. Nevertheless, Conwell’s the driving force of the offense. The junior transfer is one of the major reasons why their offensive rating rose from 106.1 in 2023-24 to 111.5 in 2024-25.

A constant threat with the ball in his hands, Conwell’s averaging 16.8 points per game this season. He leads the Musketeers with 478 points produced. Primarily a long-distance shooter, he’s knocked down 97 3-pointers (69 more than Freemantle) at an extremely high clip (.418 percent). Yet, an adept ball-handler who excels at getting to the line, he also leads the team in made free-throws (104).

Frankly, in the analytics era, he should be a draft darling. His 3-point attempt rate (.620 percent) and free-throw attempt rate (.337) were both optimal. This, his efficiency and his decision-making has led to him posting an offensive rating of 117.2 in 2024-25. For comparison, Johnson had an offensive rating of 114.5 in 2024-25 and Jakucionis has an offensive rating of 113.5.

Numbers aside, Conwell looks the part.

He’s a proficient ball-handler, jump shooter, and finisher who knows how to score in traffic. Despite being a lefty, he loves to attack from the right, making him even more difficult to contain. Listed at 6-foot-4 and 215 pounds, he’s not physically imposing but he has solid size for the position.

On defense, Conwell is gritty when he’s on the ball, demonstrating good use of his hands.

Pro Comparison

Among today’s NBA players, Conwell could be comparable to Los Angeles Clippers wing Norman Powell, particularly offensively. Like Conwell, Powell’s a gifted 3-point shooter but excels at getting to the rack. The primary difference is that Powell, who’s 6-foot-3 and 215 pounds, is a righty.

In 2024-25, Powell averaged a career-high 23.2 points per game and converted 42.3 percent of his 3s. He doesn’t qualify for the award because he won’t reach the 65-game minimum. However, he might have won the 2025 Most Improved Award if he did. Notably, he was the 46th overall pick in the 2015 NBA Draft after spending four seasons at UCLA.

Conwell may not reach those lofty heights but he could.

As a senior, Powell averaged 16.4 points per game but made only 31.9 percent of his 3s. When he was in Conwell’s class, he averaged 11.4 points per game and converted 29.4 percent of his 3-pointers. From that perspective, the Indiana native is already ahead of the curve.