Cincinnati swingman Jacob Evans, who initially entered the 2018 NBA draft without an agent, will keep his name in this year’s draft pool and go pro, he confirmed to Shams Charania of Yahoo Sports.
“The NBA is a lifelong dream and I am making every day count to make the most of it,” Evans said. “I’m excited about the feedback that I have received in this process so far. I can’t wait to lace up my kicks in Chicago (at the draft combine) and show all of the teams what I can do.”
Evans’ decision doesn’t come as a surprise. Even though he didn’t initially sign with an agent, the junior said when he first announced his decision in early April that he expected to be picked in the first round and wasn’t testing the waters just “to come back to school.” Presumably, Evans wanted to make sure that NBA evaluators agreed with his perception of his own stock before making his decision official.
While Evans isn’t a lock to be selected in the first round this May, he ranks as the No. 24 prospect on Jonathan Givony’s top-100 list at ESPN.com, and came off the board 24th in Givony’s most recent mock draft.
Evans averaged 13.0 PPG, 4.7 RPG, and 3.1 APG with a shooting line of .427/.370/.754 shooting line for the Bearcats in 2017/18. Although his shooting numbers were better in his sophomore year (.473/.418/.732), Evans has intrigued NBA executives with his potential as a two-way wing, Charania notes.