North Carolina State recruit Jalen Lecque has submitted paperwork to expore entering the 2019 NBA draft, his father Derrick tells Jonathan Givony of ESPN.com. Lecque and his father believe the 6’4″ guard should be draft-eligible because he’s in his fifth year of high school and after meeting the NCAA requirements to graduate high school in 2018.
“We’re waiting to hear if he’s eligible or not,” Derrick Lecque told Givony. “We’re waiting for them to evaluate the transcripts.”
As Givony details, NBA scouts have attended Lecque’s games at Brewster Academy to evaluate him in the event that he becomes eligible. He appears to have a strong case for inclusion in the 2019 draft class, Givony notes, but he’ll have to wait for an official decision before he submits his early-entrant paperwork. He currently ranks No. 76 on Givony’s big board for 2019 prospects.
Here are a few more of Tuesday’s draft-related updates:
- West Virginia forward Sagaba Konate tells Jon Rothstein of SI.com (Twitter link) that he’ll enter the 2019 NBA draft now that his junior year is over. According to Jeff Goodman of Stadium (via Twitter), Konate is testing the waters and keeping his options open, but is focusing on the draft for now. The No. 83 prospect on ESPN’s big board, Konate averaged 13.6 PPG and 8.0 RPG in an injury-shortened 2018/19 season.
- The 84th overall prospect on ESPN’s top 100, Boston College guard Ky Bowman, has also decided to enter the draft, writes Evan Daniels of 247Sports.com. Bowman, who will hire an agent, put up 19.0 PPG, 7.5 RPG, and 4.0 APG in his junior year in 2018/19.
- Earlier today, we published our running list of early entrants for the 2019 NBA draft. That list, which will be updated multiple times daily leading up to the April 21 entry deadline, now includes both Konate and Bowman.
Lecque’s got mad hops. They call him “Baby Westbrook”. At least a year of college ball would be beneficial for him though.
The guy is bypassing a free college education when he is the #76 prospect in a draft of 60 players. This is exactly the type of player that NEEDS to go to play college ball. Everyone want to change the rules for the Zion and LeBrons of the world, but the ones that really be hurt are these fringe guys that will likely never be more than roster filler in the NBA. They are the guys that will get 2-3 years of G League salaries and maybe get a few years overseas and not make NEARLY enough money for the rest of their life. Then they will be in their 30s with no college education and no job experience. Those are the types of players that need to go to school, at least for a couple of years, to get better and develop a fallback plan in case their dreams don’t come true. All of these players are not going to have their dreams come true, they just aren’t. They need someone to get their heads out of the clouds and tell them the truth.
I agree that he should go to NC State instead of entering the draft, but let’s not bring the education aspect into it.
He should go to further develop his game under college coaching while he still has eligibility, and that’s it. A year of taking worthless gen ed classes just to stay eligible wouldn’t really help him out at all in the long run.
I never said he should stay only one year and take gen ed classes. This is the type of player that should stay 3-4 years. You don’e even have to get the degree if it doesn’t mean anything to you, but 3-4 years learning from a top college coach is going to help you far more than 3-4 years of play overseas or in the G League. Those coaches are paid to win exclusively, most college coaches are teachers at heart. Education is not only taking history or science classes that you may never use. College education is about learning more about the career you intend to enter. And that includes athletic careers.
Well I mean, I’m a college student right now. Hopefully I have an idea of what college education is by now. I didn’t necessarily mean he would exclusively take worthless classes, but a top-ranked recruit that plans on declaring early likely isn’t going to school with the intent of getting a degree, in which case his course load would be different than an average student’s.
I agree that he needs to play in college and that it would probably be better for his development than playing in the G League or overseas. But if he’s only in it to learn about his intended career (i.e. professional basketball), those options might not be a bad thing since he’d learn the nuances of being a professional (while getting paid) without the immediate pressure of the NBA.
Essentially, I agree with your point that he shouldn’t declare for the draft, but I don’t think it has anything to do with the educational aspect of it.
Agreed. Although a lot of head caches and especially assistants have NBA experience either as a player or coach. They could easily learn the nuances of being a pro from them. Not to mention learning how to travel constantly. Life on the road is an often overlooked aspect of being a pro athlete. You can definitely learn how to do that in college. And it is true that you will learn more after you start your career than before, but it’s never a bad thing to go into a career with at least a little more than rudimentary knowledge of what is going on.
I think you are correct that we essentially agree, just from a different vantage point. I believe now and will always believe that the college experience will make you a better adult. I know better than most because I lived both sides of the equation. I didn’t start college until I was 27. Trust me, life was a lot easier during and after college than it was without college. You might not appreciate it while you are going, and players might not either, but it definitely will help you in the long run if you allow it to.
Dude, online college is a thing and cheaper. In fact I’d say a guy who has had five years of college isn’t going to get much from a free year of tuition.
Let him earn money doing what he’s skilled at and keep college as an option after. You act like 22 and just starting college with some money made from NBA g league play would be a dumb move.
G league is 35K for 5 months of play btw. Plenty of time to work a part time job outside that and attend college. That’s roughly 50K right there he’d be making which is more than enough for a community college.
Yeah, if you don’t plan on eating or paying rent or taxes or agent fees.
It IS a dumb move. Let’s say these guys play 3 years of G League ball and then figure out they aren’t going to make it. Why would you want to spend the majority of the money you made playing pro ball on an education you could have gotten for free? They can play in the G League AFTER college ball. Not only that, but they can improve during college and possibly even become lottery picks.
Look at Buddy Hield. He was an afterthought coming into college, but he worked hard on his game and turned into a lottery pick and a fine NBA player.
I think the point is if you have the opportunity to get drafted you probably take that opportunity. Only 60 guys get drafted and more younger talent will be available the year after that.
You also discredit what the g league can offer over college. In college these players are limited in how much practice time they’re allowed, don’t get paid, still have to attend classes that they may or may not be interested in. I
Also if they go to Europe they can learn better fundamentals & improve more technically than they would if they stayed in college.
Oh brother, that is funny.