Maryland junior small forward Jake Layman will pass up a strong chance to become a second-round pick this year and stay with the Terrapins for 2015/16, a source tells Jeff Goodman of ESPN.com. Layman is the No. 36 prospect for 2015 in Jonathan Givony’s DraftExpress rankings, and Chad Ford of ESPN.com has him 52nd. Multiple NBA executives told Goodman that Layman would have been selected somewhere between 25th and 45th.
The 21-year-old put up 12.5 points and 5.8 rebounds in 30.1 minutes per game this season while continuing to improve his outside shot. He knocked down 37.8% of his three-pointers this year and is at 35.0% for his college career. Layman made two of three attempts from behind the arc in Maryland’s round of 32 loss to West Virginia in the NCAA Tournament, but he otherwise had a quiet March, averaging just 7.5 PPG combined in the Big Ten and NCAA tournaments.
NBA personnel will hope that the 6’9 Layman adds strength and a better ability to create his own shot in the year to come, as Ford notes in his profile. Scouts will surely keep a close eye on Maryland in 2015/16, with freshman point guard Melo Trimble, another second-round prospect for this year, also returning to the school, and high school recruit Diamond Stone, No. 4 on Givony’s 2016 mock draft, joining the team.