Flush with NBA talent yet again, Duke and Kentucky will host NBA pro days next month.
Kentucky will host NBA scouts on Oct. 9 and 10, while Duke will host its pro days Oct. 19 and 25, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports. The second day for Duke coincides with the start of the NBA season.
“All other practices will be closed,” Duke told teams in an email.
The Blue Devils enter the season as one of the favorites to win their sixth national championship and third since 2010, behind guard Grayson Allen and a highly touted recruiting class led by freshmen Harry Giles, Jayson Tatum, Marques Bolden and Javin DeLaurier.
Giles, Tatum and Bolden are all projected Top-10 picks in the 2017 NBA Draft, per DraftExpress.com, while Allen is a projected late-first-rounder.
As for Kentucky, freshmen Bam Adebayo (No. 9), De’Aaron Fox (11) and Malik Monk (22) are all projected first-round picks.
Meantime, Kansas coach Bill Self said he didn’t feel the need to hold specific pro days.
“We’ve actually talked about it as a staff,” KU coach Bill Self told the Journal-World Saturday night. “It may be good for some schools, but I don’t see it being great for us.”
He told the paper he would never close practices to NBA scouts.
“I’m not one to say, ‘This is the only time you can come,’” Self said. “In fact, I think those guys add to practice because every day when we’re working out, our players know who’s there watching them.”
A slew of NBA scouts are also expected at the Champions Classic Nov. 15 at Madison Square Garden when Duke meets Kansas and Kentucky faces Michigan State.
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