Connecticut sophomore small forward Daniel Hamilton will enter the draft without an agent, the school announced, also confirming previous reports that shooting guard Rodney Purvis and center Amida Brimah will do the same. All three are eligible to return to the Huskies if they pull out by May 25th and refrain from hiring agents. Hamilton, like the others, seems to have only an outside chance, at best, to be drafted this year if he stays in, as he’s only 131st in Chad Ford’s ESPN Insider rankings. Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress considers him a 2017 prospect, listing him at No. 54 in his 2017 mock draft.
Hamilton arrived at UConn with plenty of promise at No. 17 in the Recruiting Services Consensus Index, just one spot behind eventual NBA 2015 No. 2 draft pick D’Angelo Russell. Givony lists Hamilton as a shooting guard while Ford calls him a two-guard, so it appears Hamilton is solidly in the swingman category. The 20-year-old has the 6’8″ height and rebounding acumen to play up front, having grabbed 8.9 boards per game this season, but he displayed the ball-distribution skills of a guard, posting 4.7 assists per contest, though he did average 2.4 turnovers.
His outside shot could use work, as he made just 33.1% of his 3-point attempts and notched 12.5 points per outing. Hamilton had double-doubles in all three American Athletic Conference Tournament games and Connecticut’s first-round NCAA Tournament victory, and he came close in an 11-point, eight-rebound, six-assist effort in the team’s second-round loss to Kansas.