Boise State junior combo forward James Webb III will enter this year’s draft, league sources told Shams Charania of The Vertical. Webb won’t immediately hire an agent, retaining his ability to pull out by the May 25th deadline to keep his college eligibility, though he has plans to bring on an agent at some point before the draft, Charania hears. Webb is a fringe contender to become a second-round pick, ranking 69th in Chad Ford’s ESPN Insider listings and 81st on Jonathan Givony’s DraftExpress board.
Webb averaged 15.8 points and an impressive 9.1 rebounds in 30.5 minutes per game, but his 3-point shooting declined markedly from the 40.9% rate of accuracy he displayed as a sophomore. He shot just 24.8% from behind the arc this season, attempting 3.5 per contest. The 6’9″ Webb is 22 and will turn 23 in August, so he’s old for an underclassman. NBA teams typically prefer younger prospects.
Boise State won 20 games but lost in the first round of the Mountain West Conference tournament and didn’t take part in further postseason play. Webb, the conference’s leading per-game rebounder, delivered perhaps his best performance with a 24-point, 18-rebound effort January 20th against San Jose State. His stock surged during his college career, as he wasn’t among the top 100 Recruiting Services Index prospects coming out of high school in 2012. He spent his freshman year at a community college and redshirted as a sophomore after transferring.