Nebraska forward Isaiah Roby is testing the NBA draft waters, reports Chris Heady of the Omaha World-Herald. A 6’8″ junior, Roby will put his name in the 2019 draft class without hiring an agent, clearing a path for him to return for his senior year and play for new coach Fred Hoiberg if he so chooses.
While Roby may ultimately decide to return to Nebraska, it’s certainly possible that the feedback he gets will be positive enough to convince him to stay in the draft. ESPN’s Jonathan Givony has Roby ranked as the No. 37 overall prospect in this year’s class after a strong junior season in which he averaged 11.8 PPG, 6.9 RPG, 1.9 BPG, and 1.3 SPG in 35 games (31.2 MPG).
Here are a few more notes on the 2019 NBA draft:
- University of Washington guard Jaylen Nowell has elected to enter the 2019 NBA draft after his sophomore season, posting a message on Twitter announcing his decision. Based on the wording of his announcement, it sounds like Nowell fully intends to go pro, forgoing his remaining college eligibility. He’s the No. 89 prospect on Jonathan Givony’s big board.
- After spending a year at Creighton, freshman forward/center Samson Froling will pursue a professional career in his home country of Australia, the program announced today. The seven-footer didn’t have a major role in his first and only season with the Bluejays, averaging 3.6 PPG and 1.9 RPG in 30 appearances. “We appreciate his contributions and respect his desire to play professionally,” head coach Greg McDermott said of Froling. “We will continue to support him in his future endeavors.”
- In an Insider-only report for ESPN.com, Jonathan Givony and Mike Schmitz take a lengthy look at which top-100 prospects are rising and falling after the latest NCAA tournament action. Most notably, Purdue’s Carsen Edwards had “arguably the most impressive four-game stretch of any player in the history of the tournament,” per Givony. Edwards has been bumped up to No. 25 in ESPN’s new rankings.