Bryce Aiken Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Draft Notes: Aiken, Wieskamp, Bowen, Jazz

May 23rd, 2019 at 4:18pm CST by Luke Adams

All-Ivy League guard Bryce Aiken will take advantage of his final remaining year of NCAA eligibility and will return to Harvard for his senior season, the program announced today in a press release. Aiken had elected to test the draft waters this spring, but ultimately decided to pull out of the 2019 pool before next Wednesday’s withdrawal deadline.

“After having the opportunity to experience the NBA underclassmen process, I’m looking forward to graduating with my class next year, and, hopefully, leading Harvard basketball to unprecedented heights,” Aiken said in a statement.

Here are a few more draft-related notes and updates:

Count Iowa guard Joe Wieskamp among those early entrants who has also decided to withdraw from the draft process and return to school. The Hawkeyes made Wieskamp’s decision official in a press release.
Draft-eligible prospect Brian Bowen has workouts lined up with the Jazz, Warriors, and Kings, a league source tells Adam Zagoria of ZagsBlog.com (Twitter link). Bowen previously worked out for Indiana.
Minnesota forward Jordan Murphy, who previously worked out for the Grizzlies, will be part of the Jazz‘s group workout tomorrow, tweets Darren Wolfson of 5 Eyewitness News. Oshae Brissett (Syracuse), Jon Axel Gudmundsson (Davidson), Zach Norvell Jr. (Gonzaga), Corey Davis Jr. (Houston), and Donnie Tillman (Utah) will also be part of that workout, according to the Jazz (Twitter link).
Sam Vecenie of The Athletic shares some of his takeaways from last week’s draft combine, identifying Luka Samanic, Nicolas Claxton, and Mfiondu Kabengele as a few of the event’s standouts, and digging into Bol Bol‘s draft stock.

Draft Updates: Waters, Mays, Hommes, Wigginton

April 5th, 2019 at 1:04pm CST by Luke Adams

After LSU center Naz Reid announced earlier this week that he’s entering his name in the 2019 NBA draft pool, two of his teammates have followed suit. According to a pair of press releases from the program, sophomore point guard Tremont Waters and junior combo guard Skylar Mays have also declared for the draft.

Waters, who is ranked as the No. 49 prospect on Jonathan Givony’s big board at ESPN.com, confirmed that he’ll be hiring an agent. While that doesn’t necessary preclude a return to LSU next season, his announcement doesn’t say anything about preserving his college eligibility, so it seems like a safe bet that he’ll go pro. The 5’11” guard is coming off a sophomore year in which he averaged 15.3 PPG, 5.8 APG, and 2.8 SPG in 33 games and was named to the All-SEC first team.

As for Mays, his announcement doesn’t reveal whether he’ll hire an agent, or whether he’s leaving the door open to return to the Tigers for his senior season. A second-team All-SEC selection, Mays posted 13.4 PPG on .421/.313/.860 shooting in 35 games. He’s not ranked in Givony’s top 100.

Here are a few more updates on early entrants declaring for this year’s draft:

Division II Player of the Year Daulton Hommes has informed Jonathan Givony of ESPN.com that he’s entering the draft and will look to hire an agent. The junior forward, who played his college ball at Point Loma Nazarene University, is one of the only D-II players to crack Givony’s big board, coming in at No. 96.
Iowa State sophomore guard Lindell Wigginton is entering the draft and plans on keeping his name in this year’s pool, he tells Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link). The 6’2″ Canadian – who tested the draft waters in 2018 before withdrawing – averaged 13.4 PPG, 4.0 RPG, and 2.1 APG with a .413/.390/.720 shooting line off the bench for the Cyclones this season.
All-Ivy League guard Bryce Aiken announced that he’ll test the draft waters, leaving the door open to potentially return to Harvard for his senior year. “I am excited for the opportunity to see where I stand in this process the NBA has created,” Aiken said in a statement. “My goal has always been to be a Harvard graduate and an NBA player.”
Our full list of the early entrants for 2019’s draft can be found here.