Isaiah Moss

Draft Decisions: Harper, German, Schofield, Moss, Barefield

It’s been a busy day for Auburn basketball. Both Bryce Brown and Austin Wiley have already indicated they are returning to school, and now Auburn has officially announced that their teammate, sophomore guard Jared Harper, is also electing to withdraw his name from the 2018 NBA Draft and return for his junior season with the Tigers.

Harper, who like Brown was not listed among Johnathan Givony’s top 100 prospects list on ESPN, averaged 13.2 PPG and 5.4 APG last season while sharing team MVP honors with Brown and Mustapha HeronHe was named Second Team All-SEC by both the coaches and the media.

Tomorrow is the last day for early entrants to withdraw from the NBA Draft and retain their NCAA eligibility. With that in mind, here are four more underclassmen who will return to school:

  • Sophomore guard Eugene German will withdraw his name from the NBA Draft and return for his junior season at Northern Illinois, the school announced today. German, 20, led the Mid-American Conference in scoring last season, averaging 20.6 PPG on his way to being named All-MAC Second Team.
  • Tennessee forward Admiral Schofield will return to school for his senior season, tweets Jon Rothstein of FanRag Sports. Schofield, 21, averaged 13.9 points and 6.4 rebounds per game as a junior and was named to the 2018 SEC Tournament All-Tournament Team.
  • Redshirt sophomore guard Isaiah Moss will withdraw from the 2018 NBA Draft and return for his junior season at Iowa, the school announced today. Moss, 21, started every game for Iowa during the 2017/18 season and was named the team’s Most Improved Player.
  • Utah guard Sedrick Barefield will withdraw from the draft and return to school for his senior season, tweets Jeff Goodman of ESPN. Barefield, 21, began his career at SMU before transferring to Utah during his freshman year. He averaged 12.0 PPG last season.

Draft Updates: Washington, Wilkes, Happ, Konate

Kentucky forward PJ Washington will test the draft waters after his freshman year, he announced on Tuesday (via Twitter). In his statement, Washington stressed that he loves the Kentucky program and isn’t in a hurry to decide on going pro, but was encouraged by coach John Calipari to get feedback on where he stands.

In the view of ESPN’s Jonathan Givony, Washington is the No. 47 prospect in this year’s class, which would give him a good chance of being drafted this spring. The 6’7″ forward is coming off a freshman season in which he averaged 10.8 PPG and 5.7 RPG for the Wildcats.

Here are a few more of the latest draft updates:

  • UCLA forward Kris Wilkes will enter the 2018 NBA draft without hiring an agent, he tells Jon Rothstein of FanRag Sports (Twitter link). The No. 68 prospect on ESPN’s big board, Wilkes posted 13.7 PPG and 4.9 RPG as a freshman for the Bruins in 2017/18.
  • The University of Wisconsin announced on Tuesday (via Twitter) that junior big man Ethan Happ will test the draft waters. “The underclassmen rule allows Ethan and others to participate in workouts with teams and potentially the NBA combine,” coach Greg Gard said of the junior forward/center, the 77th player on ESPN’s top 100. “This experience will be invaluable for him and will ultimately make him a better player.”
  • West Virginia forward Sagaba Konate will also test the draft waters, per a report from The Associated Press. In his sophomore year, Konate averaged 10.8 PPG, 7.6 RPG, and an impressive 3.2 BPG in just 25.4 minutes per contest.
  • Iowa redshirt sophomore Isaiah Moss has declared for the 2018 NBA draft but won’t hire an agent, retaining his NCAA eligibility for now, the program announced in a press release. The 6’5″ guard averaged 11.1 PPG on .420/.386/.879 shooting in 2017/18. Like other underclassmen who aren’t hiring an agent, Moss will have until May 30 to withdraw his name in order to retain his NCAA eligibility.