Koby Brea will enter the 2025 NBA Draft as one of the most experienced prospects after spending four years at Dayton and a fifth at Kentucky, where he became one of the best three-point shooters in all of college basketball. 

Brea's journey to the NBA has featured its share of ups and downs. As a freshman, he fractured both of his wrists in a hard fall in practice, costing him half of the season. When he came back as a sophomore, he was moved into a bench role and had to overcome the mental challenges of taking what felt like a demotion and figure out how to find the positives. 

"The first couple games after I got benched I'm like, damn, I kinda messed this up. I was supposed to have a breakout year. I started to feel bad for myself," Brea said in Road to the Draft presented by Jeep. "I think it's what's helped me be able to understand how I can star in different roles and it's part of the player I am today. I can star or I can come off the bench and have the same impact, and once I realized that I was able to be really good coming off the bench. I got Sixth Man of the Year for the first time and I was like, OK, I kinda like this."

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Injuries remained part of Brea's story through his final two years at Dayton, as he played through stress fractures in both tibias, risking serious injury if he had a bad fall or landed wrong on his legs. 

"Every day was really hard for me, even practice," Brea said. "I would have my trainers tell me all the time, one hard fall and you can completely snap your tibias. But the thing for me was, I just wanted to play basketball. I just wanted to be out there."

Despite that, he averaged 11.1 points per game and led the nation in 3-point shooting at 49.8 percent from deep. His sharp-shooting helped the Flyers reach the NCAA Tournament for the first time in seven years and earned him A-10 Sixth Man of the Year honors for the second time. 

Brea opted for a fifth year in college basketball, looking to further strengthen his legs and prove himself at an even higher level, transferring to Kentucky to play in the SEC. Brea accomplished both of those goals, averaging 11.6 points per game in 36 appearances for the Wildcats, knocking down 43.5 percent of his 3s to lead the SEC in 3-point shooting. 

"It was so much fun being out there, honestly, and then also I learned about myself that I can compete with these guys and be really efficient and really good," Brea said. "That was more confirmation for myself that I can play at this level and I can play at the next level." 

As he prepares to hopefully hear his name called this week during the NBA Draft -- Brea is the 57th ranked prospect at CBS Sports -- Brea is ready to embrace whatever role he's asked to play as a professional. His journey to this point has given him ample experience navigating challenges, both mentally and physically, and he believes the resiliency and work ethic developed over his time at Dayton and Kentucky will make him an asset to whatever NBA team adds him this summer. 

Koby Brea scouting report

Brea has been arguably the best 3-point specialist in college basketball over the course of the last two years, beginning with his senior season at Dayton and most recently as a graduate transfer at Kentucky. He'll be even more of a specialist in the NBA as his 3-point shooting will hopefully be a valuable enough niche to get him on the floor despite some other concerns. -- Cameron Salerno

Pro comparison

Duncan Robinson

Height

6-foot-6

Weight

202 pounds

Facts and stats

Averaged 11.6 points and 3.2 rebounds per game at Kentucky and shot 43.5% from 3-point range on nearly six attempts per game in 36 games (16 starts)

Strengths

• Versatile shooter: Can make 3-pointers spotting up, on the move (46%), off the dribble (43%), or even in transition (48%).
• Extreme gravity: Opens the floor for creators because of defenses inability to help off him. Also became a more dangerous cutter this past season.
• NBA caliber wing size: Measured at 6-5¾ at the combine and has historically been listed at 6-7 with shoes on.

Weaknesses

• Length: Has relatively short arms and even measured with a negative wingspan at 6-5¼.
• Defense: Generally considered a defensive liability, at both Dayton and Kentucky.
• Offensive versatility: May not have any other value that is consistently translatable to the NBA game beyond his 3-point shooting.