NBA Christmas Day 2019: Fast facts on Golden State Warriors rookie Eric Paschall

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The 2019-20 NBA season hasn't gone quite as expected for the Golden State Warriors.

After advancing to the NBA Finals for five straight seasons, the Warriors find themselves towards the bottom of the Western Conference after dealing with a myriad of injuries to nearly every member of their rotation.

Perhaps the one brightest spots of the tumultuous season has been the emergence of second-round draft pick Eric Paschall, who has taken the league by surprise as he's stepped up in a major way for the depleted Warriors.

So who is Eric Paschall? Ahead of his Christmas Day debut against the Rockets, here are some fast facts on the rookie sensation…

Background

Eric Paschall was born on Nov. 4, 1996 in North Tarrytown, NY. 

In his early years, he played AAU basketball with Utah Jazz star guard Donovan Mitchell, who has referred to Pascall as his "brother for life"

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

My Brother For Life💯❤️🙏🏾

A post shared by Donovan Mitchell (@spidadmitchell) on

After attending Dobbs Ferry High School for three years and St Thomas More School for his senior year, Paschall would go on to begin his college career at Fordham University in the Bronx, New York.

Before he was a pro…

As a freshman at Fordham, Paschall earned Rookie of the Year honours in the Atlantic 10 conference by averaging 15.9 points and 5.5 rebounds per game. Following his freshman year, his team's head coach was fired and Paschall transferred to Villanova University.

After sitting out for a year, Paschall posted averages of 7.2 points and 3.8 rebounds as a redshirt sophomore at Villanova but his best was yet to come.

In his junior season, Paschall averaged 10.3 points, 5.0 rebounds and 2.3 assists per game. Paschall came up big during the Wildcats' NCAA Tournament run, scoring 14 points in the Sweet Sixteen, posting a 12-point, 14-rebound double-double in the Elite Eight and scoring 24 points (on 10-for-11 shooting) in the Final Four. 

Paschall and the Wildcats would go on to win the 2018 National Championship with a win over Michigan.

In his senior season, Paschall earned First-Team All-Big East honours with averages of 16.5 points and 6.2 rebounds per game.

2019 NBA Draft

Paschall, a 6-foot-7 power forward, was referred to as " a strong, athletic forward with impressive explosiveness and battle-tested versatility," per NBA.com's pre-draft profile.

While mock drafts varied on where they saw Paschall land, he would be selected with the No. 41 overall pick by the Golden State Warriors in the 2019 NBA Draft.

Rookie Year

In three Summer League games (California and Las Vegas), Paschall posted averages of 11.3 points, 3.3 rebounds and 2.3 assists.

Having shown promise in the summer, expectations around the rookie were raised.

In his NBA debut, Paschall scored 14 points (on 6-for-13 shooting) in a loss to the LA Clippers. Paschall made his first start on Oct. 30 against the Phoenix Suns; the rokie scored 20 points (on 7-for-9 shooting) in 37 minutes of action.

On Nov. 4, which was his 23rd birthday, Paschall had his breakout performance, scoring 34 points and grabbing 13 rebounds in a nine-point win over the Portland Trail Blazers.

The rookie had arrived.

Now, he is set to take part in one of the NBA's biggest showcases as he and the Warriors will host the Houston Rockets on Christmas Day.

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Gilbert McGregor Photo

Gilbert McGregor is an NBA content producer for The Sporting News.