North Carolina junior James Michael McAdoo has announced his decision to enter the NBA draft, according to the school’s website. The 6’9″ power forward is No. 60 in Chad Ford’s ESPN.com rankings and No. 80 with Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress. ESPN.com scribe Jeff Goodman nonetheless hears from multiple NBA executives who consider him a late first-round pick who could fall into the early part of the second round.
The 21-year-old’s stock took a tumble this season, one in which he showed little, if any, improvement. He was a potential top-five pick to open his sophomore season, and was No. 18 in Givony’s rankings in the preseason this year. He averaged 14.2 points and 6.8 rebounds in 30.1 minutes per game this season, numbers almost identical to the ones he posted in 2012/13.
The father of the 6’9″ McAdoo is a second cousin of Bob McAdoo, a Heat assistant coach and Hall-of-Fame player. Both played at North Carolina, and James Michael’s college career presumably ended with a loss to Iowa State last month in the NCAA Tournament round of 32. The deadline for him to withdraw from the draft while still retaining his college eligibility is April 15th.