San Diego State forward Jalen McDaniels, the No. 36 prospect on ESPN’s big board, has elected to forgo his remaining college eligibility by hiring an agent and entering the 2019 NBA draft pool, the school announced this week.
“We appreciate the positive contributions Jalen made to our program and to the University,” head coach Brian Dutcher said. “Jalen now has the opportunity to pursue his life-long goal of playing in the National Basketball Association. We wish him and his family well.”
McDaniels, who has a chance to be selected in the first round in June, entered the 2018 draft, but withdrew his name at the 11th hour and returned to the Aztecs for one more year. He averaged 15.9 PPG, 8.3 RPG, and 2.1 APG in his sophomore season.
Here are more updates on early entrants for the 2019 draft:
- St. John’s guard Shamorie Ponds, who tested the draft waters a year ago, will enter his name in the draft pool again this year. This time around, the junior appears more likely to go pro, as he tells Evan Daniels of 247Sports.com (Twitter link) that he’ll hire an agent. Ponds is the No. 51 prospect on ESPN’s big board.
- Yale junior wing Miye Oni, the Ivy League Player of the Year in 2019, has informed Jonathan Givony of ESPN.com that he’s declaring for the 2019 NBA draft. “I submitted my name to the Undergraduate Advisory Request to legally protect myself and my NCAA eligibility, but I have every intention of staying in the draft,” said Oni, the No. 53 prospect on Givony’s top 100. “I’ll be signing with agent Harrison Gaines of SLASH Sport.”
- Louisville sophomore Jordan Nwora will test the draft waters, as Givony details at ESPN.com. Nwora, the 76th-rated prospect on ESPN’s top 100, will plan on going pro if he gets positive feedback from teams and evaluators this spring, but is leaving the door open to return to the Cardinals.
- BYU junior forward Yoeli Childs, who withdrew from the 2018 draft after testing the waters, will once again enter his name in this year’s class, he announced this week (via Twitter). Based on his statement, it sounds like Childs intends to keep his name in the draft and go pro.
I am the One Millionth ranked player who is entering my name into the NBA draft pool.
I will completely SHOCKED if I am not a lottery pick!!
NBAdraft.net finally updated yesteday. After tourney action, Dylan Windler Belmont rose 72 spots to #29, Aubrey Dawkins Cent.Fla. (“magnificent” said coach K) 41 spots to #60.
FSU’s Kabengele rose 81 spots to #20 and showed well vs Gonzaga last night but that seems high.
Mate if my maths don’t fail me all 3 were at spot #101!?!?! Or is it the ranks don’t go beyond 100? Could you clarify that my friend?
You are correct sir. I bet #101 is their default ranking for anyone they did not have in their top 100, since they would not have any other number to use. So they all probably rose even higher!– thanks to the tourney.
ZionW was so freaking amazing vs VT, he put himself out of sync with mortals such as his teammates. Barrett looked like a PG. Rooting for Duke to see more.
Barrett looked like nothing vs MSU. It’s not the first time.
Ponds looked like hot garbage against Duke in the regular season.