Jabari Walker Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Draft Notes: Walker, Abmas, Hall, Travers, Freeman-Liberty, Kiss, Big Board

May 2nd, 2022 at 10:11pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Colorado’s Jabari Walker, a First-Team All Pac-12 selection, intends to stay in the draft, his father and former NBA player Samaki Walker told ESPN’s Jonathan Givony (Twitter link).

“Jabari is fully committed to becoming a professional basketball player and has no intentions on returning to school. He wants to sign with an agent and go all in,” Samaki Walker said.

Jabari Walker averaged 14.6 PPG and 9.4 RPG as a sophomore for the Buffaloes. A power forward, Walker is rated No. 61 on ESPN’s Best Available list.

We have more draft-related news:

Oral Roberts’ Max Abmas, Saint Joseph’s Jordan Hall, Australian forward Luke Travers and DePaul guard Javon Freeman-Liberty have been invited to the NBA G League Elite Camp, Hoops Rumors’ JD Shaw reports (Twitter links found here). Among that group, Hall (No. 76) and Travers (No. 87) are on ESPN’s Best Available list.
Guard Peter Kiss will work out for the Celtics on Tuesday, Adam Zagoria tweets. Kiss averaged a Division I-best 25.2 PPG and 5.8 RPG for Bryant this past season.
Jabari Smith Jr. and Chet Holmgren remain the top two players on Sam Vecenie’s latest big board, which includes his top 100 prospects. The Athletic’s draft expert considers Smith a somewhat safer pick because his shooting and defense translates well to the NBA game. Separating players into tiers, Vecenie ranks Arizona’s Bennedict Mathurin and Kentucky’s Shaedon Sharpe just outside the top five.

MSU’s Max Christie Among Early Entrants For 2022 NBA Draft

April 4th, 2022 at 2:08pm CST by Luke Adams

The list of early entrants for the 2022 NBA draft continues to grow, as college players put their names into this year’s draft pool ahead of the April 24 deadline.

Michigan State’s Max Christie is among the players who recently declared for the draft, announcing his intentions in a post on Instagram. The freshman shooting guard stated that he’ll test the draft waters, maintaining his remaining college eligibility for the time being as he gets feedback on his draft stock.

A full-time starter for the Spartans in 2021/22, Christie averaged 9.3 PPG and 3.5 RPG on .382/.317/.824 shooting in 35 games (30.8 MPG). Those numbers are modest, but the 6’6″ guard has shown the potential to develop into a stronger shooter and a solid defender, per ESPN’s Mike Schmitz. Christie ranks 41st overall on ESPN’s big board.

Here are a few more of the college players who have recently entered the draft pool:

Expected to stay in draft, forgoing remaining NCAA eligibility:

Joirdon Karl Nicholas, F, Texas Southern (senior) (Twitter link)
JD Notae, G, Arkansas (senior) (Instagram link)
Nana Opoku, F, Mount St. Mary’s (senior) (Twitter link)
Jaden Shackelford, G, Alabama (junior) (Twitter link)
Jaylen Sims, G/F, UNC Wilmington (senior) (Instagram link)
Cole Swider, F, Syracuse (senior) (Twitter link)
John Walker III, F, Texas Southern (senior) (Instagram link)

Testing draft waters:

Kaodirichi Akobundu-Ehiogu, F, UT Arlington (junior) (Twitter link)
Keion Brooks, F, Kentucky (junior) (link via school)
Joe Bryant, G, Norfolk State (senior) (Twitter link)
Antonio Daye, G, Coastal Carolina (senior) (link via Alan Blondin of the Myrtle Beach Sun News)
Aaron Estrada, G, Hofstra (junior) (Instagram link)
Jalen Hawkins, G, Norfolk State (senior) (Instagram link)
Omari Moore, G, San Jose State (junior) (Twitter link via Jon Chepkevich)
Luis Rodriguez, G/F, Ole Miss (junior) (Instagram link)
Dereon Seabron, G, NC State (sophomore) (Twitter link)
Marcus Shaver, G, Boise State (senior) (Twitter link)
Jabari Walker, F, Colorado (sophomore) (Instagram link)
Daivien Williamson, G, Wake Forest (senior) (Twitter link via Sean Paul of Mountain West Wire)

Draft Notes: Sherman, Pecarski, Gauzin, More

June 1st, 2021 at 3:59pm CST by Luke Adams

West Virginia guard Taz Sherman has decided not to keep his name in the 2021 NBA draft and will instead return to the Mountaineers, the school announced today in a press release.

Sherman was one of the names on the list of 130+ seniors sent to NBA teams last week. However, rather than go through the full draft process, he has made an early decision to pull out and take advantage of his extra year of NCAA eligibility.

In 28 games (24.3 MPG) in 2020/21, Sherman averaged 13.4 PPG on .413/.359/.873 shooting.

Here are a few more draft-related updates:

Serbian forward/center Marko Pecarski and French point guard Matthieu Gauzin have declared for the 2021 draft, agent Daniel Moldovan tells Michael Scotto of HoopsHype (Twitter link). Pecarski spent the ’20/21 season with KK FMP in Serbia, while Gauzin played for Champagne Chalons-Reims in France.
With the early entry deadline for draft prospects having passed, Jeremy Woo of SI.com takes a look at some of the notable college players who opted to return to school rather than entering the draft pool. Purdue’s Jaden Ivey, Arizona’s Bennedict Mathurin, and Colorado’s Jabari Walker are among the players Woo suggests keeping an eye on next season.
Mike Schmitz of ESPN (Insider link) considers how certain recent NBA trends, including the success of a smaller guard like Trae Young and the bigger lineups that some contenders have used, could impact prospects in this year’s draft class. Schmitz also explores which non-lottery picks in 2021 could contribute in the postseason a year from now.