DaVonté Lacy has faced multiple challenges throughout his basketball career. First was the challenge to develop as a primetime scorer in the Pac-12 Conference. Second was to battle back from injuries he sustained during his time at WSU. Third was the challenge of bringing back excitement and support for the men’s basketball program at Washington State University.

Lacy has conquered all of these challenges, making the 2015 First Team All-Pac-12 roster, playing all 31 games his senior season, and finishing fifth on WSU’s all-time scoring list.

However, a new challenge presents itself to the former WSU guard: convincing NBA owners and general managers to select him in the 2015 NBA Draft in June.

Currently, Lacy is projected to not make the cut in the 2015 draft, according to draftexpress.com. But, like the challenges Lacy faced as a player at WSU, he will indeed defeat this one and hear his named called in June.

Before his senior season, Lacy liked to shoot primarily from behind the three-point line. But in 2015, he became a more complete player for the Cougars. Though his points per game went down by three, he dished out 33 more assists this season and got to the free throw line 56 more times than in 2014.

The Tacoma native has proved he can score, and for the last two seasons he’s been one of the top scorers in the Pac-12 Conference. In 2015, Lacy finished fifth in the conference in scoring, averaging 16.9 points a game.

“He is a dangerous shooter,” Josh Riddell wrote in an article on draftexpress.com. “He moves well without the ball to find openings on the perimeter and has quick, fluid release on his jump shot.”

WSU men’s basketball Head Coach Ernie Kent believes his former guard has the opportunity to make it in the league.

“With the majority of these players, it’s not going to be about coming out and being a star in the NBA. You’re going to be a bench warmer and be a team player so it’s very important that you have the mentality to sit at the end of a bench while Lebron is the star,” Kent said at a press conference on March 4. “So they look at a lot of different things, but he certainly has the character, has the game. It’s going to be really right team, right time in terms of workouts.”

During his time at WSU, Lacy has demonstrated that he has the character and the work ethic to do whatever it takes to win and become the best.

“That’s what you do it for, you want to be the best,” Lacy said an interview after practice. “Ever since I’ve been on the team, I’ve competed to try and be the best. I came in as a freshman (at WSU) and nobody knew who I was and ended up starting 32 games out of 36 or something I don’t know, something crazy. I wanted to be the best, I wanted to continue to improve my game.”

Expect Lacy to have that same mindset when he gets that opportunity to play in the NBA.