By ADAM ZAGORIA
WASHINGTON — Naz Reid said he plans to make a decision on his NBA future in the next “several weeks.”
The 6-foot-10 Asbury Park, N.J. native is a projected second-round pick in the NBA Draft, per ESPN.com.
“I’ll probably talk it over [with family] during the next several weeks, ” Reid told ZAGSBLOG after LSU’s 80-63 loss to Michigan State here in the Sweet 16 in which he had 10 points on 5-of-14 shooting and 9 rebounds. His former high school coach, Dave Boff of Roselle Catholic, sat courtside for the game.
LSU assistant Greg Heiar told ZAGSBLOG last week the program expects Reid to leave for the NBA.
“Yeah, we’re expecting to lose him,” Heiar said. “If you’re a top-20 pick in the draft, you need to go. You need to go. It’s what his dream is so we want him to chase his dream. You never want to hold a young man back.”
Naz Reid likely walking off to the NBA Draft pic.twitter.com/TRLJjWor2a
— Adam Zagoria (@AdamZagoria) March 30, 2019
LSU also likely faces turnover at the head coach position, where interim head coach Tony Benford is not expected to be back. One report by Yahoo Sports has Benford potentially going with Buzz Williams to Texas A&M. Williams is widely expected to take the A&M job after Virginia Tech’s season ends. The Hokies met Duke here in the late game.
“I really don’t know,” Benford said when asked about his future. “We just played a game against a really good basketball team. I’m not even thinking about it, to be honest with you.”
He did a “wonderful job just like coach [Will] Wade did,” Reid said. “We held him responsible like we did coach Wade.”
Asked about the end of his season, and possibly his college career, Reid said, “Every team has moments like these and only one team is going to win it all. Everybody’s going to have to have a feeling like this if you’re not in that championship game and winning it.”
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