Jordan Dingle Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Draft Notes: Sanogo, Withdrawals, Hornets, Magic, Thunder, Sensabaugh

May 31st, 2023 at 10:00am CST by Luke Adams

UConn big man Adama Sanogo will be keeping his name in the draft and leaving the Huskies following a wildly successful junior year, sources tell Jon Rothstein of CBS Sports (Twitter link). Sanogo averaged 17.2 PPG and 7.7 RPG for UConn in 2022/23 and was named the Most Outstanding Player of the NCAA tournament, which culminated with a Huskies championship.

Sanogo isn’t necessarily viewed as a top prospect, but he has improved his stock so far during the pre-draft process and currently comes in as the No. 70 player on ESPN’s big board, making him a legitimate candidate to hear his name called on June 22.

Here are a few more draft-related updates:

While Sanogo won’t return to UConn, the defending champions will get one more year from guard Tristen Newton, who will run it back for the 2023/24 season, according to an announcement from the school (Twitter link). Newton averaged 10.1 PPG, 4.7 APG, and 4.5 RPG in 39 games (28.8 MPG) for UConn in 2022/23.
St. John’s guard Jordan Dingle, Hampton wing Jordan Nesbitt, and UC-Davis guard Elijah Pepper are withdrawing from the draft, according to Jon Rothstein of CBS Sports (all Twitter links). Pepper is taking advantage of his extra year of NCAA eligibility due to the COVID-19 season, while Dingle and Nesbitt are underclassmen with multiple years remaining. Dingle is transferring from Penn to St. John’s.
Kansas State forward Nae’Qwan Tomlin is also pulling his name out of the draft and will return to school for one more year, tweets Jeff Goodman of Stadium.
The latest ESPN mock draft from Jonathan Givony and Jeremy Woo (Insider link) includes several interesting tidbits. Among them: Alabama’s Brandon Miller will visit the Hornets on June 10; Scoot Henderson views both the Hornets and Trail Blazers situations as appealing; there’s speculation after Houston’s Jarace Walker called off his pro day appearance that a team opted to “shut him down”; there’s some chatter that the Magic may not hang onto both of their lottery picks (Nos. 6 and 11); and a number of rival executives believe the Thunder could dangle future draft assets in an effort to move up from No. 12.
Givony also reports within ESPN’s newest mock draft that Ohio State forward Brice Sensabaugh underwent surgery after the college season to address a knee issue and hasn’t been able to take part in competitive team workouts.

Draft Notes: Murrell, Dingle, Cross, Davison, Mocks, Edey

April 5th, 2023 at 11:03am CST by Luke Adams

Ole Miss shooting guard Matthew Murrell is declaring for the 2023 NBA draft while maintaining his remaining NCAA eligibility, he announced on Instagram.

Murrell is coming off a junior season in which he averaged 14.4 points, 3.5 rebounds, and 2.6 assists in 30 games (34.4 MPG). His shooting percentages dropped off badly in 2022/23, as he made just 36.5% of his attempts from the field and 30.4% of his threes. However, he was a more reliable marksman as a sophomore (.427 FG%, .386 3PT%) and he bumped his free throw percentage to 84.3% as a junior.

Murrell currently ranks as the No. 76 prospect on ESPN’s big board, making him a borderline candidate to be drafted.

Here are a few more draft-related updates:

Penn junior guard Jordan Dingle is testing the draft waters while maintaining his college eligibility, sources tell Jon Rothstein of CBS Sports (Twitter link). Dingle’s 23.4 points per game ranked second in the nation, behind only Antoine Davis of Detroit Mercy (28.2 PPG).
Tulane senior forward Kevin Cross is declaring for the draft while preserving his NCAA eligibility, he announced on Instagram. A strong passer, Cross averaged 4.2 assists per game last season to go along with 14.8 points and 6.7 rebounds.
Carlin Davison, a 6’6″ forward who played for the Taranaki Airs in New Zealand this past season, is entering the draft as an international early entrant, tweets Jeff Goodman of Stadium. Davison, who is just 19, will have the ability to withdraw his name from the draft pool anytime between now and June 12, if he so chooses.
In the wake of the NCAA’s championship game this week, both Kevin O’Connor of The Ringer and Jonathan Wasserman of Bleacher Report updated their 2023 mock drafts. Notably, O’Connor has Alabama’s Brandon Miller (No. 3) and Ausar Thompson of Overtime Elite (No. 5) coming off his board earlier than Wasserman does (Nos. 4 and 8, respectively). Conversely, Wasserman is higher on UCF’s Taylor Hendricks, putting him at No. 6, compared to No. 10 for O’Connor.
Purdue’s Zach Edey has won a series of national player of the year awards, including being named the Naismith’s men’s player of the year. But how will the 7’4″ big man’s game translate to the NBA? Michael Grange of Sportsnet.ca explores that question, noting that most draft experts don’t project Edey as a first-round pick.