APRIL 8TH: Smith-Rivera has changed his mind and won’t enter the draft, reports Brian Snow of Scout.com (Twitter link). It’s unclear whether he formally submitted paperwork, but even if he had, the NCAA allows players to withdraw and maintain college eligibility until this coming Monday.
MARCH 31ST: Georgetown junior shooting guard D’Vauntes Smith-Rivera has decided to enter the NBA draft, the school announced. Smith-Rivera faces long odds to find his way to an NBA roster, as he isn’t among the top 100 prospects that either Chad Ford of ESPN.com or Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress compile. Ford has him at No. 185, and while Givony doesn’t list an overall ranking, he tabs him as the 61st-best prospect among college juniors. It’s unlikely that the 6’3″ Smith-Rivera would have been any more than a fringe prospect had he remained in school for another season, Givony tweets. Still, Givony surmises that he’ll undoubtedly draw interest from European teams (Twitter link).
The 22-year-old averaged 16.3 points, 4.2 rebounds and 3.2 assists in 34.4 minutes per game with 38.7% three-point shooting this season, certainly a respectable line, though with the exception of his assists, those numbers were all down from his sophomore year. He was fairly well-regarded coming out of high school in 2012, as he ranked 37th in the Recruiting Services Consensus Index that year, one spot ahead of current lottery prospect Willie Cauley-Stein.
Smith-Rivera was the leading scorer for this year’s Hoyas, who entered the NCAA Tournament as a No. 4 seed and advanced to the round of 32 before falling to fifth-seeded Utah. He plans to sign with an agent, according to the school’s announcement, though if he holds off on doing so, he can still withdraw his name by April 12th and retain his eligibility for his senior year.