Kentucky freshman forward Skal Labissiere has declared for the 2016 NBA Draft, he announced on Tuesday. Labissiere plans to sign with an agent, thus effectively ending his careeer at Kentucky.
“I want to thank my family, my coaches, teammates and most importantly I want to thank God for the opportunity that he gave me to represent and play for the University of Kentucky,” Labissiere said on Tuesday. “I also want to thank the fans for their support through everything this season. I am excited to announce that I am entering the 2016 NBA Draft.”
Labissiere played in all 36 games this season, starting 18 of them. The 6-foot-11, 225-pound forward averaged 6.6 points, 3.1 rebounds, and 1.6 blocks in his only season at Kentucky. Labissiere won SEC Freshman of the Week twice, earning the honor in both the first and last weeks of the regular season.
“I couldn’t be more proud of a player and the way Skal handled himself on our campus this season,” Kentucky head coach John Calipari said. “He was a great student, a great teammate and I’m so proud of the way he handled himself in the community. He is one of the greatest kids I’ve ever coached. On the basketball court, it took him and our staff a while to figure out how to best utilize him, but his improvement on that court over the year is why he is in this position to put his name in the draft and be projected in the middle of the lottery. His future is out ahead of him and I think in time he will be in the same breath as all of our big guys who have performed well in the NBA.”
Once projected to be selected No. 1 overall, Labissiere is currently slotted as the 10th pick in DraftExpress’ 2016 Mock Draft. However, one NBA executive told SNY.TV he believes Labissiere will go between 18th and 25th overall.
Labissiere joins Jamal Murray as Kentucky’s two likely first round picks (as of now). Murray announced his decision to enter the draft last week, stating he intends to hire an agent. Murray is projected to be the 6th pick in the draft by DraftExpress.
NN
