Villanova freshman forward Cam Whitmore is entering the 2023 NBA draft, he said in an interview with Shams Charania of Stadium (Twitter video link).
Whitmore projects as a top-10 pick in this year’s draft, currently coming in at No. 7 on ESPN’s big board.
As Jonathan Givony of ESPN notes in his scouting report of Whitmore, the 6’7″ forward had an up-and-down freshman year, finishing the season with averages of 12.5 PPG, 5.3 RPG, and 1.4 SPG on .478/.343/.703 shooting in 26 games (27.3 MPG). However, he doesn’t turn 19 until July and is viewed as one of the higher-upside players in the 2023 draft class.
There’s no indication, based on Whitmore’s conversation with Charania, that he’s leaving the door open for a return to Villanova, so it appears he intends to forgo his remaining NCAA eligibility and go pro.
Here are a few more draft-related updates:
- After averaging 15.1 points and 9.0 rebounds per game as a freshman, Duke center Kyle Filipowski announced on Tuesday that he’ll return to the Blue Devils for at least one more season (Twitter video link). Filipowski ranked at No. 16 on ESPN’s top-100 list, but wasn’t ready to leave college yet and is dealing with an injury, according to Givony (Twitter link), who believes that Filipowski could be a top-five pick in 2024 with a strong sophomore showing.
- Texas Tech senior guard De’Vion Harmon (Twitter link), Florida Atlantic junior guard Johnell Davis (Instagram link), and San Diego State junior guard Lamont Butler (Twitter link) announced that they’re entering the 2023 draft. Davis and Butler are maintaining their NCAA eligibility, but Harmon said he’s “immersing myself in the pursuit of a pro basketball career.”
- We’ve added a few more seniors to our early entrant list: Oral Roberts center Connor Vanover, TCU guard Damion Baugh, Dayto forward Toumani Camara, and UCLA guard Tyger Campbell all have a year of college eligibility left, but are on the list of participants for the Portsmouth Invitational Tournament, signaling that they’re at least testing the draft waters (hat tip to Jon Chepkevich of Rookie Scale).
Cam needs to stay in school unless he is flunking out and has no chance of playing next year. He didn’t show anything special last year.
Maybe that’s exactly why he’s leaving. Maybe 7th is his pinnacle.
Great decision by Filipowski to return to Duke. He will have a even better year next year and improve his stock.
Future G-Leaguers