LSU junior combo guard Tim Quarterman will enter this year’s draft and hire an agent, league sources tell Shams Charania of The Vertical. Underclassmen can retain their college eligibility if they pull out of the draft by May 25th, but not if they hire agents, as Quarterman apparently plans to do. It’s debatable whether the 6’6″ 21-year-old will be drafted at all, as he’s just the 66th-best prospect in Chad Ford’s ESPN Insider rankings and No. 75 with Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress.
Some of Quarterman’s numbers regressed this season amid a disappointing year for LSU, which failed to capitalize on the presence of elite prospect Ben Simmons, a prime contender to become the No. 1 overall pick. Quarterman’s scoring dipped from 11.5 points per game last season to 11.2 this year, and his assists per game declined from 4.0 to 3.6 as he went in and out of the starting lineup. Still, he significantly curtailed his turnovers, going from 2.4 to 1.6 per game, and he improved his 3-point shooting, knocking down 34.3% after hitting just 31.3% in 2014/15.
Quarterman’s final regular season game in college showed his promise, as he scored 23 points against Kentucky, but he ended with a six-point dud against Texas A&M in the SEC Tournament, and LSU, with a 19-14 record, declined to participate in further postseason play. His draft stock is essentially representative of where he stood coming out of high school in 2013, when he was No. 74 in the Recruiting Services Consensus Index.