Romello White

Draft Updates: Hinton, Green, White, Hampton

Houston swingman Nate Hinton has elected to hire an agent and keep his name in the draft, according to Mark Berman of Fox 26 Houston (Twitter link). Liz Mullen of SportsBusiness Journal reports (via Twitter) that agent Tallen Todorovich will represent Hinton.

I’m at peace with it. I prayed long and hard about it,” Hinton said of his decision to forgo his remaining two years of college eligibility, per Berman. “Through the guidance of the people around me I decided to just make that step and turn professional.”

During his sophomore season with the Cougars, Hinton became a full-time starter and put up 10.6 PPG, 8.7 RPG, and 2.0 APG in 31 games (30.3 MPG). He shot 41.0% from the field, including 38.7% on three-pointers. Despite his solid year, Hinton doesn’t show up on ESPN’s list of 2020’s top 100 prospects, so he’s not exactly a lock to be drafted.

Here’s more on the 2020 NBA draft:

  • UCF guard Darin Green, who elected to test the draft waters following his freshman year, is withdrawing and will return to school next season, a source tells Jon Rothstein of CBS Sports (Twitter link).
  • Junior forward Romello White, who spent three years at Arizona State, has committed to Ole Miss, according to Jeff Goodman of Stadium (Twitter link). As far as we know, White still hasn’t technically withdrawn the draft, but his latest decision suggests he’ll likely transfer to Ole Miss rather than go pro.
  • After a report last week revealed that draft prospect RJ Hampton is working out with Memphis Tigers coach Penny Hardaway at the team’s practice facility, the University of Memphis has stepped in to put a stop to those workouts, which aren’t in accordance with the school’s COVID-19 protocols. Mark Giannotto of The Memphis Commercial Appeal has the details.
  • A strong 2019/20 performance ensured that Killian Hayes – once considered a probable late first-rounder – is now viewed as a surefire 2020 lottery pick, according to Jeremy Woo of SI.com, who takes a closer look at one of the top international prospects in this year’s draft pool.

Draft Notes: Lee, Daly, Butler, White, Lottery

Vanderbilt junior Saben Lee has signed with Wasserman Media Group and will remain in the draft, according to Robbie Weinstein of 247Sports. He is currently ranked No. 78 overall and No. 25 among point guard prospects by ESPN. Lee was named Second Team All-SEC last season and averaged 18.6 PPG. 3.5 RPG and 4.2 APG.

We have more draft-related news:

  • Baylor’s Jared Butler, St. Joe’s Ryan Daly and Stanford’s Tyrell Terry have signed with Mike Naiditch of Beyond Athlete Management, Jeff Goodman of Goodman Hoops tweets. Naiditch is an NCAA-certified agent, which means those players are eligible to return to college. Butler is the highest-rated player among the trio as ESPN’s No. 43 overall and No. 17 among point guards.
  • Arizona State forward Romello White has entered the transfer portal while still remaining an early entrant into the draft, Doug Haller of The Athletic tweets. White averaged 10.2 PPG and 8.8 RPG in his junior year.
  • Lottery-bound teams aren’t eager to restart the season and are now in limbo, Ben Golliver of the Washington Post opines. Those teams are focused on future seasons and now have to wait on those plans since the lottery and the draft combine were postponed last week.

Draft Notes: White, Collins, Choh, Ball, Toppin

Like Arizona State teammate Remy Martin, junior forward Romello White is declaring for the 2020 NBA draft, according to Jon Rothstein of CBS Sports, who tweets that White is keeping his options open. In a tweet of his own, White confirmed that he has sought feedback from the NBA’s Undergraduate Advisory Committee.

After putting up modest numbers as a sophomore, White had a bounce-back junior year, averaging 10.2 PPG to go along with a team-best 8.8 RPG, and 1.2 BPG in 30 games (28.5 MPG) for the Sun Devils. He’ll have the option of returning for his senior season if he decides to withdraw from the draft pool later in the process.

Here are a few more draft-related notes and updates:

  • South Florida junior guard David Collins is testing the draft waters, reports Rothstein (Twitter link). Collins was the team’s leading scorer in 2019/20, with 13.7 PPG, 4.0 RPG, 1.8 APG, and 1.8 SPG.
  • Forward Tamenang Choh is declaring for the draft following his junior season at Brown University, a source tells Jeff Goodman of Stadium (Twitter link). Choh posted 13.2 PPG, 8.1 RPG, and 3.3 APG, but struggled to score efficiently, with a shooting line of .392/.292/.655.
  • LaMelo Ball has overtaken Anthony Edwards on Sam Vecenie’s latest big board at The Athletic. Dayton’s Obi Toppin has also moved up in Vecenie’s newest update, coming in at No. 4, behind only Ball, Edwards, and James Wiseman.
  • Over at SI.com, Jeremy Woo still has Edwards at No. 1 overall in his most recent mock draft, which covers both rounds. Woo isn’t as high as Vecenie on either Ball (No. 5) or Toppin (N0.9).