Khem Birch Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Draft Notes: Boatright, Kaminsky, Brooks

April 25th, 2014 at 6:54pm CST by Cray Allred

De’Mon Brooks of Davidson has chosen Keith Kreiter of Edge Sports to represent him heading into the draft, per a tweet from Shams Charania of RealGM. Charania adds that Brooks is a potential second rounder, although DraftExpress isn’t as optimistic, ranking the power forward as just the 86th best senior prospect. Here’s a roundup of the rest of tonight’s draft notes:

While UConn’s DeAndre Daniels chose to enter the draft this year, fellow Huskie Ryan Boatright has decided to return for his senior season, the team announced via Twitter.
Boatright wanted to declare, but took the advice of those who cautioned he might not get drafted, per a tweet from Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports. Wojnarowski says that advice was accurate, and it lines up with the projections of Draft Express and ESPN Insider Chad Ford, who didn’t have the point guard getting selected in either round in 2014.
Frank Kaminsky told Jeff Goodman of ESPN.com that he will return to Wisconsin rather than enter this year’s draft. Kaminsky has been expected to wait to enter 2015 draft, where DraftExpress has him projected as a late first-rounder.
The big man tells Goodman he wavered somewhat on his decision. “It was a tough decision, but I think the best thing for me is to stay another year and develop even more,” the 7-footer told Goodman. “I made a commitment to the school and I don’t think I can turn my back on the people who have been there for me.”
An NBA scout tells Adam Zagoria of SNY.tv that UNLV’s Khem Birch is a second-rounder at best who will need to work on his offense in the D-League (Twitter links).

Khem Birch Declares For Draft

April 24th, 2014 at 6:18pm CST by Charlie Adams

UNLV junior Khem Birch will forgo his senior season and enter the 2014 draft, he announced (on Twitter). Birch is a 6’9″ power forward who transferred from Pittsburgh after his freshman year. He averaged 11.5 points and 10.2 rebounds over the course of 31.5 minutes per night during his 2013/14 campaign with the Runnin’ Rebels. In 33 contests, he was able to shoot 51% from the floor while averaging 3.8 blocked shots each game.

Birch was the 12th ranked recruit in his high school class, according to ESPN.com’s recruiting database. Despite being slightly undersized, Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress lists his wingspan at an impressive 7’0, and also adds that Birch is an exceptional athlete for his position.

The big man ranks 67th on Chad Ford of ESPN.com‘s Big Board and sits at 61st on Givony’s list of top prospects. He’s likely to hear his name called sometime in the second-round of the draft.