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Draft Decisions: Richards, Tshiebwe, West, Burk, Adams

April 14th, 2020 at 9:24am CST by Luke Adams

After initially tweeting on Monday that Nick Richards would likely be the next Kentucky underclassman to enter the 2020 NBA draft, Adam Zagoria of ZagsBlog.com writes that Richards will in fact declare for the draft.

Richards made his decision official this morning, announcing on his Twitter account that he intends to forgo his final year of college eligibility and go pro.

The junior big man looks like a realistic candidate to be drafted, ranking 59th on ESPN’s big board of 2020 prospects. He’s coming off a breakout season in which he averaged 14.0 PPG, 7.8 RPG, and 2.1 BPG in 31 games (29.6 MPG).

Here are more updates on early entrants declaring for the 2020 draft:

  • West Virginia forward/center Oscar Tshiebwe announced on Twitter that he’ll enter the draft while maintaining his NCAA eligibility. Tshiebwe nearly averaged a double-double (11.2 PPG, 9.3 RPG) in just 23.2 minutes per contest as a freshman and shows up on ESPN’s big board at No. 79. However, West Virginia head coach Bob Huggins said on Monday that he believes the big man will likely return for his sophomore season, as Alex Hickey of WVMetroNews.com writes.
  • Marshall guard Jarrod West has declared for the draft while maintaining his eligibility, the program announced (via Twitter). West, a strong defender who averaged 14.2 PPG as a junior, sounds like he’s leaning toward returning to school. “It’s a chance to get my name out there and possibly get some feedback which could help improve my game, and end up helping our team be even better,” he said of the draft process, per Keith Morehouse of WSAZ-TV (Twitter link).
  • IUPUI junior guard Marcus Burk announced on Twitter that he has decided to test the 2020 draft waters. After transferring from Cambell, he averaged 21.3 PPG on .432/.386/.782 shooting in 2019/20, earning All-Horizon League Second Team honors.
  • Austin Peay freshman guard Jordyn Adams will also test the draft process, as he announced in a tweet. Adams was the Governors’ second-leading scorer in his first college season, with 17.4 PPG in 31 games (33.2 MPG). He was named Ohio Valley Conference Freshman of the Year.
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Kentucky’s Immanuel Quickley Enters 2020 Draft

April 13th, 2020 at 11:56am CST by Luke Adams

Kentucky sophomore guard Immanuel Quickley has become the latest Wildcat to declare for the 2020 NBA draft, telling ESPN’s Jonathan Givony that he’ll forgo his remaining college eligibility and sign with an agent.

Quickley, who started 20 of 30 Kentucky games in 2019/20, averaged a team-high 16.1 PPG to go along with 4.2 RPG, 1.9 APG, and a .417/.428/.923 shooting line. His breakout sophomore season earned him SEC Player of the Year honors.

Givony, who has Quickley ranked 58th overall on ESPN’s big board for the 2020 draft, notes that the guard’s impressive wingspan helped him defend guards, wings, and forwards. While Quickley’s defense and his outside shot will intrigue NBA teams, those clubs likely won’t get a chance to evaluate his play-making and shot-creating abilities during pre-draft workouts, given the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, Givony writes.

Quickley is the fourth Kentucky underclassman to declare for the NBA draft so far this spring, joining Tyrese Maxey, Ashton Hagans, and Kahlil Whitney. Junior big man Nick Richards is expected to be the next Wildcat to enter the draft, tweets Adam Zagoria of Forbes.

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More Draft Decisions: Claxton, Bassey, Nowell, More

May 28th, 2019 at 4:59pm CST by Luke Adams

Draft decisions by this year’s early entrants continue to flood in as the NCAA’s May 29 withdrawal deadline nears. After relaying those decisions in a pair of posts already today, we’ve got more in the space below:

  • Georgia sophomore forward Nicolas Claxton will keep his name in the 2019 NBA draft pool, according to ESPN’s Jonathan Givony, who tweets that Claxton is a potential first-round pick.
  • According to Jeff Goodman of Stadium (via Twitter), Western Kentucky freshman center Charles Bassey will stay in the 2019 draft pool, barring a last-second change of heart. Bassey is the No. 80 prospect on Givony’s big board at ESPN.com.
  • Washington sophomore guard Jaylen Nowell is another early entrant who has decided to forgo his remaining NCAA eligibility and stay in the draft, Goodman tweets. Nowell comes in at No. 92 on Givony’s big board.
  • Kentucky’s Nick Richards, a sophomore forward, will return to the Wildcats for at least one more season, he announced today in a video on Instagram.
  • South Carolina will get guard A.J. Lawson back for his sophomore year, as he announced today (via Twitter) that he’s withdrawing his name from the draft.
  • Bethune-Cookman head coach Ryan Ridder has informed Goodman (Twitter link) that both of his early entrants, Malik Maitland and Cletrell Pope, are heading back to school for another year.
  • Ohio State forward Kaleb Wesson is pulling out of the draft to return to the Buckeyes for his junior season, tweets Jon Rothstein of CBS Sports.
  • Bowling Green guard Justin Turner is heading back to school for his junior season, per Rothstein (via Twitter).
  • Weber State guard Jerrick Harding will withdraw from the draft and return to school for his senior season, he announced today (via Twitter).
  • Hampton junior guard Jermaine Marrow is withdrawing from the draft and retaining his NCAA eligibility, coach Buck Joyner tells Goodman (Twitter link).
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Latest On Early Entrants List For 2019 NBA Draft

April 22nd, 2019 at 1:50pm CST by Luke Adams

The deadline for early entrants to declare for the 2019 NBA draft fell on Sunday night, with plenty of NCAA underclassmen and international prospects entering their names into the draft before that deadline.

News continues to trickle in on players making draft decisions, and it will just be a matter of time before the NBA issues an official list of the players who declared for the 2019 NBA draft as early entrants. Once that group is set, the next key deadline to watch will be May 29 — that’s the last day for NCAA players to withdraw from draft consideration while retaining their college eligibility.

Here are many of the early entrants who have declared for the draft within the past couple days (our full list can be found here):

NCAA early entrants:

International early entrants:

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