NEW YORK — Three players from the University of Kentucky were selected in the NBA Draft on Thursday evening, while three players from New Jersey were taken in the first round.
Had Isaiah Briscoe kept his name in the draft, it may have been four Wildcats and four Garden State products instead.
Like underclassmen teammates Jamal Murray, Skal Labissiere and Tyler Ulis, Briscoe, a former standout guard at Roselle Catholic, declared for the draft and was invited to the NBA Draft Combine last month. He worked out for six NBA teams, but ultimately decided to return to Lexington for his sophomore season.
“That’s his decision,” Murray said Wednesday afternoon at NBA Draft Media Day at the Grand Hyatt New York. “He’s NBA-ready, but needs another year to get better. Great body, great passion, he’s very driven, motivated, so I think he’ll be really significant at Kentucky.
“He’s gotta work on his jump shot, but he can already do everything. He’s like Kawhi Leonard without the shot, so once he works on that, he’ll be a complete, overall player that plays defense with a passion.”
“He did what’s best for him,” Labissiere said. “We all did what was best for us, or what we thought was best for us. He thought that was the best thing for him to do, and I’m going to support him no matter what.”
In the fall of 2014, before his senior season began at Roselle Catholic, DraftExpress projected Briscoe as high as No. 7 overall in the 2016 draft. He spent much of his freshman season for John Calipari projected as late first-rounder, ultimately settling in as an early second-rounder.
As it stands now, Briscoe is projected as the 46th pick in 2017. Without Ulis, the dynamic in the Kentucky backcourt will be interesting with De’Aaron Fox and Malik Monk arriving.
“Just running the team,” Briscoe told reporters in Lexington earlier this month when asked what his role will be as a sophomore. “And, that doesn’t mean score all the points. That doesn’t mean, yeah, score all the points. It just means making sure that everything is in order. Be a second coach on the court. You know, build a better relationship with Coach Cal. And, just lead the young guys. Like a floor general.”
Meanwhile, New Jersey produced three first-round picks Thursday. St. Joseph-Metuchen’s Wade Baldwin went at No. 17 to the Memphis Grizzlies, St. Patrick’s DeAndre’ Bembry 21st to the Atlanta Hawks, and Trenton Catholic’s Malachi Richardson to the Charlotte Hornets, who then sent him to the Sacramento Kings.
Richardson spent his first two years of high school at Roselle Catholic before Briscoe, who began his career at St. Benedict’s Prep. Richardson won the NJSIAA Tournament of Champions as a sophomore in 2013 at RC, which featured Syracuse’s Tyler Roberson.
Briscoe and Richardson were the consensus top-2 players in New Jersey’s class of 2015, but few, if any, seemed to believe at the time either would be one-and-done. Richardson’s monster finish to last season, highlighted by helping Syracuse to the Final Four, helped fuel his exit.
Baldwin, two-and-through at Vanderbilt, left for the NBA after his own strong sophomore season. Roberson, the Newark Star-Ledger Player of the Year in 2013 as a senior, started to become a factor in Syracuse’s lineup last season as a junior.
“He can definitely play in this league,” Richardson said of Briscoe. “We all have to work, and I think that’s what he’s going back to school to do. He’ll work on his game, get better, and he’ll be here.”
“That’s on Isaiah Briscoe,” Baldwin said. “He probably did what’s best for him and his family. I hope he makes the right decision with whatever he decides to do.”
NThree players from the University of Kentucky were selected in the NBA Draft on Thursday evening, while three players from New Jersey were taken in the first round.
