Terry Taylor

Terry Taylor, Jomaru Brown Withdraw From Draft

A pair of early entrants in this year’s draft have decided not to go pro in 2020 after all. Jeff Goodman of Stadium reports (via Twitter) that Austin Peay guard Terry Taylor has withdrawn from the draft, while Jon Rothstein of CBS Sports tweets that Eastern Kentucky guard Jomaru Brown has done the same.

Taylor, who averaged 21.8 PPG and 11.0 RPG in 33 games (36.6 MPG) in 2019/20, is the second Austin Peay underclassman to withdraw from the draft after testing the waters, joining teammate Jordyn Adams. Coming off his junior year, Taylor has one more year of college eligibility and will automatically be entered into the 2021 NBA draft.

Brown, meanwhile, was Eastern Kentucky’s leading scorer in his sophomore season, putting up 18.4 PPG, 3.9 RPG, and 1.9 SPG in 32 games (29.5 MPG) for the Colonels. However, he struggled with his efficiency, recording a .386/.315/.751 shooting line, and didn’t take great care of the ball, averaging 4.7 turnovers per contest, compared to just 2.7 APG. He’ll be a junior in 2020/21.

The pre-draft calendar initially called for NCAA early entrants to make their decisions on whether or not to remain in the draft by June 3 in order to maintain their college eligibility. That deadline has been indefinitely postponed, but a number of early entrants are still pulling out of the draft class now, as our tracker shows.

Draft Notes: Joe, Bailey, Kurucs, Taylor, Eboua

Arkansas sophomore guard Isaiah Joe will test the 2020 NBA draft waters, head coach Eric Musselman told reporters today, per Jon Rothstein of CBS Sports (Twitter link).

Joe is coming off a season in which he averaged 16.9 PPG, 4.1 RPG, and 1.4 SPG in 26 games (36.1 MPG) for the Razorbacks. Although his .390 FG% over two college seasons isn’t particularly impressive, it’s largely a result of his reliance on the three-point shot — 548 of his 718 total shot attempts came from beyond the arc, where he shot 37.8%.

Joe is ranked 61st on ESPN’s big board of 2020 prospects, making him a viable candidate to be drafted.

Here are a few more of the latest draft decisions:

  • Marquette forward Brendan Bailey is declaring for the draft while maintaining his college eligibility, a source tells Evan Daniels of 247Sports.com (Twitter link). Bailey averaged 7.1 PPG and 5.2 RPG with a .383 3PT% in 30 games (all starts) as a sophomore.
  • Arturs Kurucs, the brother of Nets forward Rodions Kurucs, has entered the 2020 draft, tweets ESPN’s Jonathan Givony. The Latvian guard spent this past season playing for VEF Riga in Latvia.
  • Austin Peay junior guard Terry Taylor announced on Twitter that he’ll be testing the draft waters without hiring an agent. Taylor, who averaged 21.8 PPG and 11.0 RPG in 33 games (36.6 MPG) in 2019/20, is the second Austin Peay underclassman to declare for the draft, joining teammate Jordyn Adams.
  • Cameroonian forward Paul Eboua has signed with BDA Sports for representation, a source tells Emiliano Carchia of Sportando. Eboua – who ranks 56th on ESPN’s big board – hasn’t declared for the draft yet, but is expected to do so soon, per Carchia.