Immanuel Quickley knew he was going pro early last season

Immanuel Quickley has been lighting it up in the NBA for the New York Knicks this season.

The No. 25 overall pick has been the talk of the rookie class as he is averaging 12.4 points, 2.2 rebounds, and 2.5 assists per game.

However, he has scored at least 25 points in 3 of his last 4 outings including a 31-point performance on January 24^th against the Portland Trail Blazers.

As a sophomore at Kentucky, Quickley averaged 16 points, 4.2 rebounds, and 1.9 assists on his way to winning SEC Player of the Year.

Early in the season, Quickley was in a role where he came off the bench as he only started 20 of the 30 games that season.

Despite that, he knew he was going pro early in the year.

TJ Beisner is the editor for CoachCal.com and spends a ton of time with the team each season.

After Quickley poured in 25 points,3 rebounds, 3 assists, and a block on Sunday against the Los Angeles Clippers, Beisner took to Twitter to share a moment that occurred last season.

Early in the year, someone said something about “next year” before a practice. Quickley responded by saying we’d be watching him in the league “next year.”

Quickley knew the work he was putting in and trusted everything that he was doing and knew it would pay off.

It is safe to say that he believed in himself and proved to everyone that he was right as we are watching him tear it up in the NBA.