Syracuse point guard Tyler Ennis will enter this year’s NBA draft, sources tell Jeff Goodman of ESPN.com. The freshman will probably be a late lottery pick, with fellow ESPN.com scribe Chad Ford slotting him ninth in his prospect rankings and Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress pegging him 15th. The Orange’s upset loss to Dayton this past weekend in the NCAA tournament appears to have been his final college game.
Ennis is frequently mentioned along with Dante Exum and Marcus Smart as one of the top three point guards expected to be in this year’s draft, though it appears he trails both of them in the eyes of most teams for now. The 6’2″ Ennis averaged 12.9 points, 5.5 assists and 1.7 turnovers in 35.7 minutes per game this season, one in which Syracuse raced to a 25-0 start. The team won just three times in its final nine games, and perhaps that’s hurt the stock of the 19-year-old.
Still, Ennis made strides during the 2013/14 season. The Canadian native started the season just 45th in Givony’s rankings, and he wasn’t among the top 20 on Ford’s list, either. He was No. 27 on the Recruiting Services Consensus Index for the top 2013 high school prospects.