Michigan sophomore Mitch McGary will enter this year’s NBA draft, he tells Dan Wetzel of Yahoo! Sports, rather than face a one-year NCAA suspension for failing a drug test that showed he took marijuana. McGary had been thinking about declaring for the draft anyway, but the looming suspension “pushed it overboard,” he said, and it’s prompted him to turn pro in spite of back surgery that limited him to just eight games this season.
McGary was in line to become a lottery pick had he declared for the draft after his inspired NCAA tournament play as a freshman, but he’ll do well to sneak into the back end of the first round this year. He’s the 32nd-ranked prospect onJonathan Givony’s DraftExpress list and No. 41 with Chad Ford of ESPN.com. It’s unclear how much the failed drug test will affect McGary’s stock, but surely it won’t help his cause. There’s also disparity over which position he’s best suited for, as Givony lists him as a center, while Ford has him as a power forward.
Energy, athleticism and rebounding are the calling cards of the 6’10” McGary, but he leaves much to be desired on the offensive end, as Zach Links of Hoops Rumors examined in his Prospect Profile on the 21-year-old. He averaged just 9.5 points this year and 7.5 as a freshman. He came to prominence helping Michigan to the NCAA title game in 2013, scoring a career-high 25 points against top-seeded Kansas in the Sweet 16. He also pulled down 14 rebounds in that game, and he averaged 11.6 rebounds per 36 minutes over his college career.