Mike Daum Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Draft Updates: Early Entrant Decisions, Peters, Daum

April 30th, 2018 at 3:59pm CST by Luke Adams

More than 50 NCAA underclassmen have already hired agents – or plan to – and have forfeited their remaining college eligibility, but there are another 100+ early entrants who will have to decide in the next month whether to keep their names in the draft or return to school.

In his latest piece for The Athletic, Michael Scotto took a closer look at five of those underclassmen who have decisions to make, speaking to three NBA general managers, four executives, and a scout about Tyus Battle (Syracuse), Khyri Thomas (Creighton), Jarred Vanderbilt (Kentucky), PJ Washington (Kentucky), and Bruno Fernando (Maryland).

While all eight talent evaluators who spoke to Scotto believe that Thomas should go pro, they were divided on Battle and Vanderbilt, and the majority felt that Washington and Fernando should head back to their respective programs.

Here are a few more draft notes and updates:

Mississippi State guard Lamar Peters, who entered the 2018 NBA draft without hiring an agent, has decided to withdraw from the process and return to school for his junior year, he announced on Twitter. Peters will rejoin teammates Aric Holman and Nick Weatherspoon, both of whom considered testing the draft waters but ultimately didn’t enter their names.
South Dakota State forward Mike Daum will also withdraw from the draft process and head back to school for the 2018/19 season, he announced over the weekend (via Twitter). Daum will look to follow up a junior year that saw him average 23.9 PPG and 10.3 RPG for the Jackrabbits.
There’s no consensus among elite high school prospects on whether the elimination of the one-and-done rule for draft prospects would be a good thing, as Jason Jordan of USA Today details. While most players who spoke to Jordan were in favor of giving prospects more freedom by adjusting the rule, others worried that doing so could result in a flood of early entrants who aren’t yet ready for the next level.

Draft Updates: Daum, Olinde, Echodas, Cate

April 21st, 2018 at 5:47pm CST by Arthur Hill

Mike Daum of South Dakota State has tweeted his intention to enter the NBA draft. The junior forward averaged 23.9 points and 10.3 rebounds this year and has been an Associated Press honorable mention All-American the past two seasons.

“After speaking with my coaches and family I have decided to declare for the 2018 NBA Draft without an agent,” Daum wrote on Twitter. “I’m excited to pursue my dream and see where this process will take me!”

Daum is joined by a slew of international prospects who elected to test the draft waters as we move toward tomorrow night’s deadline. All the decisions relayed by ESPN’s Jonathan Givony:

Louis Olinde, 20, of Germany, a 6’10” combo forward who appeared in 32 games for Bamberg in the Euroleague and BBL. (Twitter link)
Lithuania’s Martynas Echodas, 20, a 6’10” center who plays for Lietuvos Rytas and is posting 9.5 points and 6.2 rebounds in 20 minutes per game (Twitter link).
Emanuel Cate, 20, of Romania, a 6’10 forward who plays in Spain and was named MVP of last year’s under-20 European Championship in Division B (Twitter link).
The Congo’s Romaric Belemene, 21, a 6’8″ combo forward who averages 9.5 points in 24 minutes for Oviedo in the Spanish second division. (Twitter link).
Yago Dos Santos, 19, of Brazil, a 5’10” point guard who recently participated in the Nike Hoop Summit (Twitter link).
Brazil’s Gabriel Galvanini, 19, a 6’9″ combo forward averaging 7.5 points and 4.6 rebounds for Bauru in the first division. He ranks 12th in ESPN’s 1998 international class ranking, according to Givony (Twitter link).