Kansas center Joel Embiid won’t be playing against Stanford tomorrow, but Chris Mannix of Sports Illustrated doesn’t think his absence should have a major impact on his draft stock (Twitter link). The latest mock draft from DraftExpress has Embiid going second overall. Here’s a look at some more news related to the draft:
- Despite yesterday’s crushing loss to Mercer, Jabari Parker is still expected to enter his name into June’s draft, one executive tells Adam Zagoria of ZagsBlog. The same executive says he would take Parker at third overall, behind the Kansas duo of Embiid and Andrew Wiggins. If Embiid’s back proves to be an issue, however, he’d take Parker second behind Wiggins.
- Ohio State’s LaQuinton Ross still hasn’t made a decision on whether or not he’ll enter the draft, reveals Zagoria. One scout tells Zagoria that Ross would be well advised to stay in school and work to improve his game. Ross would figure to be a mid-second-round pick this June.
- University of Arizona coach Sean Miller labeled Weber State forward Joel Bolomboy as an NBA prospect, tweets Steve Luhm of the Salt Lake Tribune. Bolomboy average 8.7 points and 11 rebounds per game in 2013/14.
- Yannis Koutroupis of Basketball Insiders gives his take on how the tournament has affected the top prospects’ draft stocks. Adreian Payne and T.J. Warren are two players who Koutroupis thinks have really benefited themselves from good performances in the early rounds of the tourney.