BYU forward Yoeli Childs is the latest early entrant to remove his name from 2018’s NBA draft class, announcing late on Tuesday night (via Twitter) that he won’t be going pro quite yet.
“After several weeks of prayer, talking with my family, those close to me, and NBA teams, I feel the best decision for my future and my family is to return to BYU for my junior year!” Childs wrote in his statement.
In his sophomore year, Childs averaged 17.8 PPG, 8.6 RPG, and 1.8 BPG for the Cougars. However, his odds to be drafted in 2018 weren’t great. The 6’8″ forward will head back to BYU looking to improve his draft stock during his junior year in 2018/19.
Here are more draft-related notes and rumors from around the league:
- With the NBA draft combine set to begin today in Chicago, Jonathan Givony and Mike Schmitz of ESPN.com preview the event, providing a schedule of what to expect for the rest of the week and identifying several prospects who could most significantly hurt or help their draft stocks in the coming days.
- According to Steve Kyler of Basketball Insiders (Twitter link), Villanova sharpshooter Donte DiVincenzo “has some real fans in NBA circles,” and is a legit candidate to come off the board late in the first round. DiVincenzo is still technically just testing the draft waters without an agent, but he’s probably a good bet to go pro if he gets that sort of feedback from NBA evaluators.
- Kyler passes along another note from the combine, tweeting that Kevin Knox‘s stock may be on the rise, as his initial workout schedule includes several teams in the top 10.
- Former Seton Hall forward Desi Rodriguez has worked out for the Nets and Celtics so far in the pre-draft process, tweets Zach Braziller of The New York Post.