Xavier sophomore small forward Trevon Bluiett will enter this year’s NBA draft but hold off on hiring an agent, thus retaining his college eligibility should he elect to withdraw by May 25th, sources told Jeff Goodman of ESPN.com (Twitter link). Bluiett is a fairly well-regarded prospect, but the general belief has been that he’ll stay in school for another year. He’s the 19th-best sophomore in Jonathan Givony’s DraftExpress rankings, but Givony lists him on his 2017 mock draft, at No. 52, rather than his 2016 mock. Chad Ford of ESPN.com doesn’t have the 6’6″ 20-year-old among this year’s draft prospects.
Bluiett took on more of the offensive burden for the Musketeers this season and handled it capably, averaging 15.1 points on 11.8 shots per game with 39.8% accuracy from behind the 3-point line. His turnovers remained steady despite his increased role, and he rebounded well for his size, pulling down 6.2 per contest.
It’s been an up-and-down March for Bluiett, who tied a career high with 24 points against Marquette in the Big East tournament and scored only seven versus Wisconsin in a season-ending NCAA Tournament loss. He averaged just 5.2 points in five NCAA Tournament games the past two years after entering school at No. 38 in the Recruiting Services Consensus Index.