Goodwin To Enter Draft; Cauley-Stein, Wiltjer Won’t

Kentucky shooting guard Archie Goodwin will enter the draft, while center Willie Cauley-Stein will stay in school, the university announced, according to Jeff Goodman of CBSSports.com (Twitter link). Fellow CBSSports.com scribe Gary Parrish tweets that Kyle Wiltjer will also remain at Kentucky. Forward Alex Poythress, another Kentucky underclassman, is leaning toward entering the draft, though he has not finalized his decision, reports Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress.com (Twitter link).

There's no word on Nerlens Noel, the most highly ranked prospect of the bunch, though he seems a decent bet to enter the draft, since he's still in the running for the No. 1 pick despite a torn ACL that prematurely ended his season. Goodwin, Cauley-Stein and Poythress hinted that they might return to school after a disappointing loss to Robert Morris in the first round of the NIT. That Wiltjer is returning is no shock, considering neither DraftExpress.com nor ESPN rank the sophomore in their top 100 prospect lists. 

Goodwin is not hiring an agent, according to Kentucky's press release, so he can still withdraw before the NCAA's April 16th deadline to do so. He's ranked No. 24 on ESPN's list and No. 18 by DraftExpress, while Cauley-Stein checked in at No. 18 and No. 21, respectively. Even though the rankings for both freshmen are roughly equivalent, Goodman praised both for their decisions, citing what he feels is Cauley-Stein's need for another year of seasoning (Twitter link). 

View Comments (0)