Marek Blazevic

Several International Players Pull Out Of Draft

Sunday marks the deadline to withdraw from the NBA draft, and a handful of international players have reached their decisions. The date doesn’t affect college players because the NCAA set an Aug. 3 deadline for players to remove their names from the draft and retain their eligibility.

  • Lithuanian guard Arnas Velicka has decided to take his name out of the draft, tweets Nicola Lupo of Sportando. Velicka currently plays in France.
  • Belgian guard Joel Ekamba is skipping this year’s draft, a source tells Lupo. The 19-year-old also plays in France.
  • Brancou “Papi” Badio of Senegal has decided to withdraw, according to Lupo. The 21-year-old guard is playing his first season on the senior team for FC Barcelona.
  • Also removing his name from the draft is Greek guard Nikos Rogkavopoulos, Lupo adds. Rogkavopoulos is playing this season with AEK Athens.
  • Greek shooting guard Georgios Kalaitzakis is withdrawing, agent Marius Rutkauskas confirmed to Lithuanian basketball writer Donatas Urbonas (Twitter link). Kalaitzakis is ranked 90th on ESPN’s list of the top 100 prospects.
  • Lithuanian center Marek Blazevic is pulling out of the draft, sources tell Urbonas (Twitter link). He currently plays for  Zalgiris Kaunas of the Lithuanian Basketball League.
  • Deciding to remain in the draft is Adrian Bogucki, a 20-year-old center from Poland, according to Lupo. The 7’1″ Bogucki is playing in Poland and has been part of the U16, U18 and U20 Polish national teams.

Draft Decisions: Jarreau, Elleby, Blazevic, Krejci

Houston guard DeJon Jarreau will enter the NBA draft without hiring an agent, tweets Mark Berman of Fox 26 in Houston. He averaged 9.0 points, 4.3 rebounds and 3.7 assists during his junior season with the Cougars.

“I’m gonna test the waters, go through the process and get a draft grade. I want to get evaluated. If I don’t like what I hear I plan on coming back,” Jarreau said (Twitter link). “Basketball is my world. I’ve played all my life to get to this point. Coach (Kelvin) Sampson has helped me a lot, from being a basketball coach to a major role model (Twitter link). I’m very nervous because you never know what can happen. This is a big step. It’s always been my dream. So of course nervous, but confident.” (Twitter link)

There are more draft decisions to pass along:

  • CJ Elleby, a sophomore forward from Washington State, has entered the draft but plans to preserve his eligibility, a sources tells Jonathan Givony of ESPN (Twitter link). Elleby averaged 18.4 PPG and 7.8 RPG this season and was a first-team All-Pac 12 selection.
  • Lithuanian center Marek Blazevic has also declared for the draft, agent Tadas Bulotas tells Givony (Twitter link). The 18-year-old stands 6’11” and played professionally with Rytas this year.
  • Czech guard Vit Krejci, who saw regular minutes with Zaragoza this season, has announced he will enter the draft, Givony tweets. Bulotas also confirmed the decision for Krejci, who is 6’7″ and 19 years old.