A year ago, seven Kentucky players declared for the NBA Draft following the college basketball season — and six of them were drafted.
Now that Kentucky has been ousted from the NCAA Tournament by Indiana, 73-67, similar decisions will be looming for several Wildcats.
Freshman guard Jamal Murray and freshman big man Skal Labissiere are both projected as lottery picks by DraftExpress.com, with the 6-foot-5 Murray at No. 7 and the 7-foot Labissiere at No. 10.
“I don’t know what happens now,” Murray told Kyle Tucker of the Louisville Courier-Journal following the loss. “This wasn’t the plan.”
He added: “I’m going to miss playing basketball with these guys. It’s done, our season’s done.”
Sophomore point guard Tyler Ulis is projected at No. 26, but also told Tucker he hasn’t given the NBA any thought. Despite Ulis’ height, Isaiah Thomas of the Celtics told me he believes there’s a place in the NBA for him
Freshman guard Isaiah Briscoe was recently moved to No. 39 on the 2017 Mock by DraftExpress.com, while junior Marcus Lee and senior Alex Poythress aren’t on the board.
“I’m not thinking about that,” Briscoe said, per Tucker.
Beginning this year, the NCAA moved back the NBA Early Entry Eligibility Deadline until 10 days after the end of the NBA Combine. This year the Combine runs May 11-15, so the new deadline falls on May 25.
The new rules will allow college players to enter their names in the NBA Draft without risking future college eligibility. Once a player declares for the draft, he can participate in the NBA combine – if invited – and work out individually for NBA teams for feedback.
For what it’s worth, the same NBA scout who told me last year that all seven Kentucky guys would declare says this year he expects Murray, Labissiere and Ulis to declare, and for Briscoe tor remain on campus.
Kentucky, meantime, brings in the No. 1 recruiting class in the nation per Scout.com with guards De’Aaron Fox and Malik Monk and bigs Bam Adebayo, Wenyen Gabriel and Sacha-Killeya Jones.
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