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Southeast Draft Notes: Miller, Hornets, Council, Smith

June 12th, 2023 at 7:00pm CST by Dana Gauruder

The Hornets hold the No. 2 pick and Alabama forward Brandon Miller will work out for them on Tuesday, Ashley Stroehlein of WCNC tweets. Miller and G League guard Scoot Henderson are the top contenders to be chosen at the No. 2 spot. It was previously reported that Miller was scheduled to work out for Charlotte on Tuesday and the plans obviously didn’t change. In fact, he has already arrived in Charlotte.

We have more draft-related news from the Southeast Division:

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Trey Murphy, Others Declare For 2021 NBA Draft

April 13th, 2021 at 4:01pm CST by Luke Adams

Virginia junior shooting guard Trey Murphy III has decided to declare for the 2021 NBA draft while maintaining his college eligibility, he announced today (via Twitter).

Murphy, who began his college career at Rice, transferred to Virginia for the 2020/21 season and started 20 of his 25 games for the club, averaging 11.3 points and 3.4 rebounds in 29.6 minutes per contest.

While those numbers are relatively modest, Murphy has displayed an impressive shooting stroke from beyond the arc throughout his college career — he knocked down 43.3% of his three-point attempts as a junior, increasing his career average to 40.1%. He’s considered one of the best outside shooters in this year’s class.

Murphy currently ranks as the No. 42 prospect on ESPN’s big board, making him a strong candidate to be drafted if he decides to go pro.

Here are a few more updates on early entrants declaring for the draft:

  • Marcus Zegarowski, G, Creighton (junior): Zegarowski will enter the draft, he announced on Twitter, and the wording of his statement suggests he intends to go pro. After making the All-Big East Second Team in 2020, he earned a spot on the First Team in 2021, having averaged 15.8 PPG and 4.3 APG on .464/.421/.786 shooting in 29 games (33.6 MPG).
  • Dawson Garcia, F, Marquette (freshman): Garcia announced on Instagram that he’ll test the draft waters without hiring an agent. He averaged 13.0 PPG and 6.6 RPG in 27 games (29.7 MPG) in his first college season, making the Big East All-Freshman team.
  • Balsa Koprivica, C, Florida State (sophomore): Koprivica’s announcement on Twitter declaring his intent to enter the draft didn’t mention anything about maintaining his eligibility, so he’s likely going pro. As a sophomore in 2020/21, he recorded 9.1 PPG and 5.6 RPG in 24 games (19.5 MPG) as FSU’s primary starting center.
  • Kevin Samuel, C, TCU (junior): Samuel, who has averaged 8.7 PPG, 7.7 RPG, and 2.2 BPG in 95 games (26.1 MPG) across three college seasons, announced on Twitter that he’ll enter the draft while maintaining his NCAA eligibility. Samuel also tested the draft waters two years ago following his freshman season.
  • Trevion Williams, F, Purdue (junior): Coming off an All-Big Ten season in which he posted a career-best 15.5 PPG and 9.1 RPG in 28 contests (25.1 MPG), Williams has opted to test the draft waters, he announced on Instagram.
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Draft Decisions: Bone, Harper, Simonds, Brooks, More

May 29th, 2019 at 11:18am CST by Luke Adams

The NCAA’s withdrawal deadline for 2019’s early entrants is less than 12 hours away. Players who want to pull out of the draft and retain their college eligibility have until 11:59 pm eastern time tonight to officially do so.

We’re tracking all the players who have withdrawn from the draft on our early entrants list. Here are the latest decisions:

Staying in the draft:

  • Tennesee junior guard Jordan Bone announced in a video on Twitter that he’ll keep his name in the 2019 NBA draft pool. Bone is the No. 58 prospect on ESPN’s big board, making him a solid candidate to be drafted.
  • Auburn junior guard Jared Harper is expected to go pro too, keeping his name in the draft, reports Jeff Goodman of Stadium (via Twitter). Harper is at No. 64 on ESPN’s top-100 list.
  • Despite not showing up in ESPN’s top 100, Georgia State junior guard D’Marcus Simonds will also remain in the draft, forgoing his final year of his college eligibility, sources tell Jon Rothstein of CBS Sports (Twitter link).
  • Another prospect outside of ESPN’s top 100, Houston junior guard Armoni Brooks, has announced (via Twitter) that he’ll stay in the draft and begin his professional career.

Withdrawing from the draft:

  • Gonzaga got some good news on Tuesday night, as a source informed Rothstein (Twitter link) that forward Filip Petrusev will return for his sophomore season. Additionally, Goodman reports (via Twitter) that forward Killian Tillie is expected to rejoin the Zags for his senior year.
  • Freshman forward Emmitt Williams, who was one of six LSU players to test the draft waters, will head back to school for at least one more season, a source tells Goodman (Twitter link).
  • Glenville State junior forward Phil Bledsoe told Kyle Boone of CBS Sports (Twitter link) that he has withdrawn from the draft. However, as Aaron Beard of The Associated Press explains, Bledsoe may have eligibility concerns going forward, since the new NCAA rule allowing prospects to hire an agent while testing the waters only applies to D-I players, rather than D-II players like Bledsoe. Agent Jerry Dianis remains confident that the NCAA will allow Bledsoe to return for his senior year.
  • A pair of early entrants are withdrawing from the draft and transferring. UNLV freshman forward Joel Ntambwe announced (via Twitter) that he’s making the move to Texas Tech, while SMU junior guard Jimmy Whitt will return to Arkansas, where he began his college career.
  • Mississippi State forward Reggie Perry announced in a Twitter video that he’ll be back for his sophomore season.
  • Boston College forward Nik Popovic is expected to take advantage of his final year of NCAA eligibility by going back to school for his senior season, sources tell Rothstein (Twitter link).
  • Louisiana Tech junior guard DaQuan Bracey and South Florida junior guard Laquincy Rideau will both withdraw from the draft and return to school, according to a pair of tweets from Goodman.
  • Rothstein reports (via a pair of tweets) that TCU freshman center Kevin Samuel and Xavier junior guard Quentin Goodin will pull out of the draft after testing the waters.
  • Maryland junior guard Anthony Cowan is expected to withdraw from the draft tonight to return to school for one more year, tweets Adam Zagoria of ZagsBlog.com.
  • Creighton guard Davion Mintz will report back to the Bluejays for his senior year, he tells Goodman (Twitter link). Goodman’s full list of prospects returning to school also includes UNC Greensboro junior forward James Dickey, so it appears he withdrew from the draft too.
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Northwest Notes: Murray, Jazz Workouts, Thunder, Hood

May 3rd, 2019 at 8:20pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Nuggets point guard Jamal Murray has been fighting through a right thigh injury, Mike Singer of the Denver Post reports.  Murray was limited to 15 points on 6-for-18 shooting, along with just one assist, in Game 2 of the Western Conference semifinal series against Portland. But Murray refused to admit the injury might have affected him, Singer adds.

“I always play through pain,” the Nuggets’ guard said. “It’s something I’ve always done. I always put myself through more and do more than I can. Playing through pain is just another challenge for me. I’m gonna do it regardless of the stakes. Just try to be smart about it, obviously. If it’s something I can play through, it’s what I’m gonna do.”

We have more from the Northwest Division:

  • The Jazz are bringing in six prospects for pre-draft workouts on Saturday, the team’s PR department tweets. Centers Kevin Samuel (TCU) and Nathan Knight (William & Mary), forwards Tres Tinkle (Oregon State) and Jalen Hudson (Florida) and guards Lindell Wigginton (Iowa State) and Chris Clemons (Campbell) are the players they’ll evaluate.
  • The Thunder should make everyone but Russell Westbrook and Paul George available in trade talks, Brett Dawson of The Athletic argues in his offseason outlook. Oklahoma City needs to acquire more shooters to complement their All-Star duo and find a backup center, Dawson continues. Westbrook must also adjust his game in order for the Thunder to end their cycle of first-round playoff exits, Dawson adds.
  • Trail Blazers guard Rodney Hood has hired CAA Sports to represent him, Tony Jones of The Athletic tweets. Hood will be an unrestricted free agent this summer. He was previously represented by Travis King of Independent Sports and Entertainment.
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233 Early Entrants Declare For 2019 NBA Draft

April 23rd, 2019 at 10:38pm CST by Luke Adams

The NBA has released the official list of early entrants for the 2019 NBA draft, announcing in a press release that 233 players have filed as early entry candidates. Of those prospects, 175 are from colleges, while 58 are international early entrants.

That number falls just short of the previous record for early entrants, established in 2018. Last year, 236 early entrants declared for the draft, though ultimately only 91 of those prospects remained in the draft by the final deadline.

This year’s total of 233 early entrants also figures to shrink significantly by May 29 and again by June 10, the two key deadlines for players to withdraw their names from the draft pool. But it still looks like that pool will remain crowded, with the eventual number of early entrants almost certainly exceeding 60, the number of picks in the draft.

Our list of early entrants is now up to date and can be found right here. Here are today’s updates:

College underclassmen:

The following players were listed on the NBA’s official breakdown today, but weren’t yet noted on our own list.

The following players reportedly declared for the draft or planned to, but weren’t named in the NBA’s official announcement today. As such, we’ve removed them from our list.

International players:

The following players were listed on the NBA’s official breakdown today, but weren’t yet noted on our list.

The following international players reportedly declared for the draft or planned to, but weren’t named in the NBA’s official announcement today. As such, we’ve removed them from our list.

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