Nebraska freshman shooting guard Bryce McGowens has opted to declare for the 2022 NBA draft and will go pro, reports ESPN’s Jonathan Givony.
“I am planning on forgoing my college eligibility and hiring agent Drew Gross of Roc Nation Sports,” McGowens told ESPN.
In his first and only college season, McGowens averaged 16.8 points, 5.2 rebounds, and 1.4 assists per game in 31 appearances (33.3 MPG) for the Cornhuskers. He got the opportunity to play with his brother, junior guard Trey McGowens, en route to earning a spot on the Big Ten All-Rookie team.
Bryce McGowens is the No. 30 prospect on ESPN’s big board for 2022, with Givony writing in his scouting report that the 6’7″ wing looked like a potential lottery pick on some nights and a second-rounder on others. McGowens told ESPN that he hopes to “squeeze into the lottery.”
Givony praised McGowens as a “fluid, versatile scoring threat” who can finish with either hand around the basket and has deep range on his pull-up jumper. However, he had some trouble scoring efficiently as a freshman, making just 40.2% of his field goal attempts, including 27.2% of his three-pointers.
Saint Joseph’s sophomore forward Jordan Hall (Instagram link) and Rutgers freshman guard Jaden Jones (press release) have also declared for the 2022 draft in recent days. The wording of their statements suggest they both plan to forgo their remaining NCAA eligibility rather than simply testing the draft waters. Hall tested the waters in 2021 before returning to school.
Bryce is similar to THT to me. Agile, long scoring guard w/ handles. Bryce prob the better pg skills of those 2 guys. I felt like he could have been a top10 pick if he stayed, similar to Jaden Ivey & Mathurin this yr. Not mad at him for leaving tho
Wasn’t a fan of OKC getting loads and loads of picks and rebuilding like that.
But looking ahead there is a bunch of really good prospects coming and some really good projects.
Emoni Bates, who was once expected to be a top 3 player not in his draft but in the next is now likely to be a second round pick. Imagine drafting him in and having him develop and work with trainers. He was suppose to be the next Kevin Durant and it would be awesome to see him go to where Durant started.
Even this year they will likely get 1 of the big 5 (Paolo, Jabari, Chet, AJ and Ivey). Giddey was a great pick, Shai is developing really well, Dort was a very solid pick up.
If I’m an OKC fan id be really excited