THURSDAY, 7:12pm: Rozier has officially signed with Verus Management, Michael Scotto of Sheridan Hoops tweets.
MONDAY, 2:06pm: Louisville junior power forward Montrezl Harrell and sophomore combo guard Terry Rozier are entering this year’s draft, coach Rick Pitino said today during his season-ending press conference, as The Courier-Journal relays. Harrell is 21st on Jonathan Givony’s DraftExpress rankings and 24th with Chad Ford of ESPN.com. There’s more of a gulf in opinion on Rozier, who’s the 26th-best prospect according to Ford but just 39th-best as Givony has it.
Harrell’s stock slipped during the season, as he was No. 12 with Givony and No. 16 with Ford prior to the season. He stands 6’8″, and he’s neither a natural power forward nor a true small forward, as Eddie Scarito of Hoops Rumors writes in our latest Draft Prospect Power Rankings. The 21-year-old averaged 15.7 points and 9.2 rebounds in 35.1 minutes per game this season, all higher numbers than last year, but his per-36-minute figures in scoring and rebounding declined as the Cardinals moved from the American Athletic Conference to the Atlantic Coast Conference.
The difference in projections on the 6’2″ Rozier were even more pronounced during the preseason, when Ford ranked him 11th and Givony had him 50th. Rozier, also 21, had a breakout campaign after failing to see much action as a freshman, putting up 17.1 PPG and 5.6 RPG in 35.0 MPG this season. He also averaged 3.0 assists against 2.2 turnovers per game.