Jeremiah Robinson-Earl Alters Draft Decision Because Of Coronavirus Concerns

Jeremiah Robinson-Earl will not enter the 2020 draft after all. Head coach Jay Wright had previously said the Villanova forward would test the draft waters, but Robinson-Earl provided Wright with his final decision earlier this week, as the University’s website relays.

“A few days ago Jeremiah called me and told me he wanted to just continue working out and concentrate on getting better,” Wright said. “He said ‘ I don’t want to bother with the NBA stuff, so I just want to say I’m coming back. He didn’t want to make a big deal out of this.”

Wright added that JRE had gotten some feedback on his game from the NBA early entry committee and it was likely that he would have been drafted.

Robinson-Earl, who is No. 64 on ESPN’s big board, said the uncertainty surrounding the coronavirus and how the NBA will respond to it played a role in his decision.

“The uncertainty of what the NBA is going to do did a play a part in this,” the forward said. “I just feel like I don’t want to worry a lot about that with the times we’re all going through right now. I just want to focus on getting better, going back to Villanova and getting my mindset on that.

“I did get some feedback [from the NBA] and it was good feedback. I just felt like I wanted to focus on being a better overall player. The feedback was that I would have gotten drafted but I feel like I can put myself in a better position just by coming back.”

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