Duke freshman center Jahlil Okafor intends to enter the 2015 NBA draft, Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders reports (Twitter link). This news comes as little surprise since Okafor has been projected as a top three selection in 2015 prior to the Blue Devil’s season even commencing. The big man helped lead Duke to the NCAA championship this season, and had little to gain career-wise by returning for his sophomore campaign.
The 6’11” center’s hold on the No. 1 prospect ranking has been under siege by Kentucky forward Karl-Anthony Towns, who also announced his intentions to enter the draft today. Okafor is currently the No. 2 overall player on the top 100 of both Chad Ford of ESPN.com (Insider subscription required) and Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress.com.
In 38 games this season for the Blue Devils Okafor averaged 17.3 points, 8.5 rebounds, 1.3 assists, and 1.4 blocks in 30.1 minutes per contest. His shooting line was .664/.000/.510.