Draft Decisions: Azubuike, Hands, Bowman, Reed
Kansas big man Udoka Azubuike is the latest early entrant to pull out the 2018 NBA draft, a source tells ESPN’s Jeff Goodman (Twitter link). Azubuike, the No. 77 prospect on Jonathan Givony’s big board at ESPN.com, had entered the draft without hiring an agent, but now appears poised to rejoin the Jayhawks for his junior year.
As a sophomore, Azubuike enjoyed a breakout season in 2017/18, averaging 13.0 PPG, 7.0 RPG, and 1.7 BPG in just 23.6 minutes per contest for Kansas. The seven-footer will have another opportunity to declare as an early entrant in 2019.
Here are more of the latest draft decisions from early entrants in advance of today’s deadline:
- Jaylen Hands, who ranks one spot behind Azubuike on Givony’s top-100 list, is also headed back to school, a source tells Jon Rothstein of FanRag Sports (Twitter link). The UCLA guard will be a sophomore in 2018/19.
- Boston College sophomore guard Ky Bowman will return to school for his junior year after testing the draft waters, according to Rothstein. Bowman had a big sophomore season for the Eagles, putting up 17.6 PPG, 6.8 RPG, and 4.7 APG, but wasn’t considered likely to be drafted.
- The Clemson basketball program got some good news today, according to Rothstein, who tweets that Marcquise Reed and Shelton Mitchell are both withdrawing from the draft after testing the waters. Reed and Mitchell were the Tigers’ first- and fourth-leading scorers in 2017/18.
- DePaul’s top scorer Max Strus will return to school for his senior year, the program announced today in a press release. “I’m glad I was able to go through the process and receive feedback from NBA teams,” Strus said in a statement. “Now we can look forward to my senior season at DePaul and we’re already working and getting better this spring as a team.”
- Junior guard Tyler Hall is withdrawing from the draft and returning to Montana State, per ESPN’s Jeff Goodman (Twitter link). Hall averaged 17.5 PPG on .407/.372/.907 shooting in 2017/18.
236 Early Entrants Declare For 2018 NBA Draft
The NBA has released the official list of early entrants for the 2018 NBA draft, announcing in a press release that 236 players have filed as early entry candidates. Of those prospects, 181 are from colleges, while 55 are international early entrants.
That number blows away the previous record for early entrants, established in 2017. Last year, 182 early entrants declared for the draft, though ultimately only 73 of those prospects remained in the draft by the final deadline.
This year’s total of 236 early entrants also figures to shrink significantly by May 30 and again by June 11, the two key deadlines for players to withdraw their names from the draft pool. But it still looks like that pool will remain crowded, with the eventual number of early entrants likely exceeding 60, the number of picks in the draft.
Our list of early entrants is now up to date and can be found right here. Here are today’s updates:
College underclassmen:
The following players were listed on the NBA’s official breakdown today, but weren’t yet noted on our own list. For now, we’re assuming they haven’t yet hired agents.
- Mike Amius, F, Western Carolina (junior)
- Sedrick Barefield, G, Utah (junior)
- Lamonte Bearden, G, Western Kentucky (junior)
- Tashawn Berry, G, Dakota College (sophomore)
- Elijah Bryant, G, BYU (junior)
- Yoeli Childs, F, BYU (sophomore)
- Jordan Davis, G, Northern Colorado (junior)
- Shawntrez Davis, F, Bethune-Cookman (junior)
- Dextor Foster, G, ASA College (junior)
- Tremaine Fraiser, G, Westchester CC (junior)
- Kaiser Gates, F, Xavier (junior)
- Michael Gilmore, F, Florida Gulf Coast (junior)
- Zach Hankins, C, Ferris State (junior)
- Malik Hines, F, Massachusetts (junior)
- Ismaila Kane, F, Atlanta Metropolitan (freshman)
- Devonte Klines, G, Montana State (junior)
- Kalob Ledoux, G, McNeese State (sophomore)
- Marquez Letcher-Ellis, F, Rice (sophomore)
- Victor Lewis II, G, West Texas A&M (junior)
- Dominic Magee, G, Southern Miss (junior)
- Malik Martin, C, South Florida (junior)
- Christian Mekowulu, F, Tennessee State (junior)
- Aaron Menzies, C, Seattle (junior)
- Max Montana, F, San Diego State (junior)
- Travis Munnings, F, Louisiana-Monroe (junior)
- Jordan Murdock, G/F, Friends University (junior)
- Ray Ona Embo, G, Tulane (sophomore)
- Keanu Peters, G, Salt Lake CC (sophomore)
- Jalon Pipkins, G, Cal State Northridge (freshman)
- Cody Riley, C, UCLA (freshman)
- Ronshad Shabazz, G, Appalachian State (junior)
- Tremont Waters, G, LSU (freshman)
The following players reportedly declared for the draft or planned to, but weren’t named in the NBA’s official announcement today. As such, we’ve removed them from our list.
- Tookie Brown, G, Georgia Southern (junior)
- Harry Froling, C, Marquette (sophomore)
- Aric Holman, F, Mississippi State (junior)
- Jack McVeigh, F, Nebraska (junior)
- Elijah Minnie, F, Eastern Michigan (junior)
- Kobe Paras, G, Cal State Northridge (sophomore)
- Trayvon Reed, C, Texas Southern (junior)
- Max Strus, G, DePaul (junior)
- Jordon Varnado, F, Troy (junior)
International players:
The following players were listed on the NBA’s official breakdown today, but weren’t yet noted on our list.
- Berke Atar, C, Turkey (born 1999)
- Laurynas Beliauskas, G, Lithuania (born 1997)
- Rihards Berzins, F/C, Latvia (born 1997)
- Etienne Ca, F, France (born 1997)
- Sigfredo Casero-Ortiz, G, France (born 1997)
- Berkan Durmaz, F, Turkey (born 1997)
- Aleksander Dziewa, C, Poland (born 1997)
- Stephane Gombauld, F, France (born 1997)
- Yoan Granvorka, F, Switzerland (born 1997)
- Michal Kolenda, F, Poland (born 1997)
- Antonios Koniaris, G, Greece (born 1997)
- Leon Kratzer, C, Germany (born 1997)
- Shekinah Munanga, F, France (born 1997)
- Williams Narace, F, France (born 1997)
- Marcel Ponitka, G, Poland (born 1997)
- Leonardo Tote, F, Italy (born 1997)
- Martynas Varnas, G, Lithuania (born 1997)
- Filip Zagrajski, G, Croatia (born 1997)
Draft Updates: E. Davis, Isabell, Hands, T. Brown
A handful of notable prospects today have announced their intention to enter the 2018 NBA draft, including a pair of players viewed as probable lottery picks in Marvin Bagley III and Miles Bridges. We’ve got updates on several more NCAA underclassmen who don’t have the same name recognition as Bagley and Bridges, but are nonetheless entering their names for draft consideration — at least for now. Let’s dive in…
- Texas junior guard Eric Davis Jr. has decided to go pro, the school announced today in a press release. Davis joins teammate Mohamed Bamba among Texas players entering the draft early — fellow Longhorn Kerwin Roach II is also declaring, but won’t hire an agent, so he could return to school.
- Drexel junior Tramaine Isabell is testing the draft waters, according to a press release from the program. The 6’1″ guard averaged 21.0 PPG and 7.5 RPG in his first season at Drexel after transferring from Mizzou.
- UCLA freshman guard Jaylen Hands is entering the draft without hiring an agent, as he tells Jon Rothstein of FanRag Sports. Hands’ teammate Aaron Holiday has also declared for the draft, so the program would have some backcourt holes to fill if both players ultimately decide to go pro.
- Georgia Southern junior guard Tookie Brown is testing the draft waters, the school announced today. Brown, who averaged 18.9 PPG on .532/.471/.753 shooting in 2017/18, won’t hire an agent, leaving the door open to return to school for his senior year.
- Max Strus of DePaul is entering the draft without an agent, according to his school. The junior guard enjoyed a breakout season in 2017/18, posting 16.8 PPG and 5.6 RPG in 31 games.
- Charlotte junior guard Andrien White will test the NBA draft waters this spring, as David Scott of The Charlotte Observer notes. If White decide to withdraw his name from draft consideration next month, he plans on returning to the 49ers to play for new head coach Ron Sanchez.