With a blank slate tonight in the professional ranks, expect most NBA fans to turn their attention to the NCAA title game between Michigan and Louisville. Both teams are loaded with future NBAers. Let's round up all draft-related news and notes from tonight here:
- Per the Associated Press (via ESPN), New Mexico guard Tony Snell will enter the NBA draft. There were reports a few weeks back that Snell was leaning towards the draft and on Monday he made it official, stating at an on-campus news conference, "in my heart, I feel like it's a good decision to leave now."
- Mitch McGary's NBA draft stock is soaring, writes Adam Zagoria of SNY. Quoting a pair of pro scouts, Zagoria implies that McGary needs to at least consider leaving Ann Arbor because it is unlikely that his stock will ever be this high again.
Earlier updates:
- Jeff Goodman of CBS Sports tweeted yesterday that North Carolina sophomore guard P.J. Hairston will be returning to Chapel Hill. However, Hairston's mother says that they are still in the process of making that decision, writes Andrew Carter of the Charlotte Observer. Hairston emerged as a legitimate scoring threat once he was inserted into the starting lineup for the Tar Heels in mid-February. According to Carter, Roy Williams is optimistic that Hairston, James McAdoo and Reggie Bullock will all return, though he cautioned that no announcement will be made by the school until all three decide.
- Nevada's Deonte Burton will return for his senior season, reports Chris Murray of the Reno Gazette-Journal. The point guard, who averaged 16.3 points and 3.6 assists per game as a junior for the Wolf Pack, was projected anywhere from a late second-rounder to undrafted.
- South Dakota State senior Nate Wolters has signed with agent Jared Karnes, tweets HoopsWorld's Alex Kennedy, who adds that the Jack Rabbits star is expected to be an early second round pick. Wolters has been one of the best mid-major players in the country in his career, averaging 19.5, 21.2 and 22.3 points-per-game from his sophomore to senior seasons.
- Giannis Antetokoumpo, a 6-foot-10 point guard from Greece with a giant wingspan, is shooting up NBA draft boards, reports Chris Sheridan in a video courtesy of Sheridan Hoops. As we've seen, the "Greek Freak" is drawing a ton of interest from NBA teams and Sheridan opines that Antetokoumpo could end up being a lottery pick if he decides to enter this June's draft.
- Joe Kotoch of Sheridan Hoops shares his latest NBA mock draft here, adding that Antetokoumpo could end up being this year's Bismack Biyombo.