Kansas State head coach Frank Martin welcomed in five recruits last year. K-State fans had high hopes for all the recruits, but the one with the highest was McDonald’s All American Wally Judge.
Judge came out of high school with high aspirations. He was expected to be the next great Wildcat freshman, following in the steps of fellow 5-star recruits Michael Beasley and Bill Walker. Judge was tabbed as the No. 4 overall power forward in the 2010 recruiting class, and No. 15 overall prospect according to ESPNU 100 rankings.
Judge has a ton of potential. He is 6’9’’ 248 pounds and plays very big for his size.
His rebounding ability is above-average but still has room for improvement. He is stronger on the defensive glass and can box his defender out quite well. In his first season with K-State, Judge was used a lot against opponents with bigger frontier players.
Most notable was Kansas’ Cole Aldrich. Judge knuckled up with Aldrich all three times the Wildcats played Kansas, and did a fairly good job. With the box outs, quick feet in the post, and most memorable defense on the All-American. Judge has also shown that he is a potent rebounder on the offensive glass.
Another aspect of his game is his scoring ability.
Judge can score in a variety of ways. He can step out of the paint and knock down the jumper from around 18 feet. But is more comfortable working out of the paint. His athleticism, quickness, and versatility make him tough to handle in the post.
Not to mention, he plays above the rim while showcasing his great leaping ability. Judge has shown his ability to jump over the opposition and throw down a highlight dunk.
Many Wildcat fans were waiting for him to meet his potential, but this past year it didn’t show up consistently.
He came in lacking that physical strength to take on the other physical power forwards, but added bulk to his frame and is now 33 pounds heavier.
Working behind versatile forwards Jamar Samuels and Curtis Kelly — Judge learned a lot from them and it showed during K-State’s NCAA Tournament run.
Judge’s offensive skill set certainly improved. He is starting to learn more post moves, and it’s becoming more evident that he wants the spin move in his arsenal. He has also added the drop step, the turnaround bank shot, and the most dangerous one would be his newly equipped face up.
When Judge faces up he is reading the defender first off, either he will drive on the slower defender or back down the weaker defender. He doesn’t force the action, he lets the game come to him and if matched with physical defender in the post, Judge just tries to outwork the opponent.
His defensive presence has improved tremendously under Frank Martin and he can now be used for locking down on the frontier force.
Judge is a tremendous athlete with a full college basketball season under his belt. Next year, he will be used more often and seeing that his offense is improving his numbers will definitely rise closer to expectations. Judge has outstanding upside and is going to grow out of his learning shoes, and rise to his ability level.
He still needs to work on his face up ability because it was inconsistent at times in his first year. He needs to get softer hands in the post — sometimes he fumbled the ball and turned it over. He also needs to improve his range, post moves, and rebounding ability before he can fully meet the high expectations.
While statistically Judge was unable to match the level set by Beasley and Walker in his freshman campaign, he showed exactly the kind of potential he possesses. One thing Judge has that the other standouts didn’t is a full year of college basketball experience entering a season. Those lessons learned will help him meet the high expectations as his role at K-State evolves and he becomes a go-to player.
