Gilyard, Ado, Russell Withdrawing From NBA Draft

Three early entrants have decided to pull their names out of the 2020 NBA draft poll and will return to school for one more year, according to reports from Jeff Goodman of Stadium and Jon Rothstein of CBS Sports.

Richmond guard Jacob Gilyard told Goodman (Twitter link) that he’ll withdraw from the draft, while Rothstein (Twitter links) hears that Mississippi State center Abdul Ado and Rhode Island guard Fatts Russell will do the same. All three players are coming off their junior years, so they’re now on track to become automatically draft-eligible in 2021.

Gilyard averaged 12.7 PPG, 5.7 APG, and an impressive 3.2 SPG for the Spiders in 31 games in 2019/20. Ado, who also appeared in 31 games, had a more modest stat line for the Bulldogs, recording 5.7 PPG, 6.7 RPG, and 1.9 BPG. Russell, meanwhile, led the Rams with 18.8 PPG while chipping in 4.6 APG, 3.4 RPG, and 2.9 SPG in 30 contests.

None of the three prospects held spots on ESPN’s top-100 list for the 2020 draft, so it doesn’t come as a major surprise that they’re holding off on going pro.

Our complete tracker of this year’s early entrants can be found right here.

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