Tennessee Tech junior center Charles Jackson has decided to enter this year’s draft and signed with agent Scott Nichols, reports Shams Charania of RealGM. The 21-year-old, who turns 22 next month, is an unheralded prospect outside the top 100 rankings for both Chad Ford of ESPN.com and Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress.
The 6’10” Jackson was eighth in the nation in double-doubles this season, tied with first-round prospect Christian Wood and ahead of lottery hopeful Kevon Looney, as Charania points out, though Jackson did his much of his damage against weaker competition in the Ohio Valley Conference. He put up 13.0 points, 9.5 rebounds and 1.3 blocks in 27.2 minutes per game this season, his only NCAA Division I year after he transferred from junior college.
Jackson intends to stay in the draft, according to Charania, though the RealGM scribe notes that it’s possible he’ll withdraw by the NBA’s June 15th deadline and instead play in the D-League or overseas. He can’t return to NCAA competition if he formally enters the draft or has indeed hired an agent.