After having six workouts with NBA teams, Kentucky guard Isaiah Briscoe opted to withdraw from the NBA Draft last month and return to campus for his sophomore season.
“My thing is I didn’t want to rush it,” the former Roselle (N.J.) Catholic star told Kentucky reporters on Wednesday in his first comments since his decision. “I don’t think that the NBA is going anywhere and me coming back to Kentucky for another year to develop as a person on and off the court will only help me.”
Briscoe was not invited to the NBA Draft Combine last month, while several of his teammates — Jamal Murray, Skal Labissiere, Tyler Ulis and Marcus Lee — all were. The first three are projected as first-round picks in the June 23 NBA Draft, while Lee has since transferred to Cal.
Isaiah Briscoe on his decision to come back to Kentucky for his sophomore season. Video: https://t.co/yB0JDYtj04 pic.twitter.com/droCsoLdye
– Curtis Burch (@curtisburch) June 15, 2016
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“I mean, I thought I was going to the combine, but once I found out that I wasn’t, you know, still working out and waiting on NBA teams to call and give me a full workout,” he said.
Briscoe averaged 9.6 points, 5.3 rebounds and 3.1 assists as a freshman while shooting 44 percent from the field.
Asked what the most important thing he learned in his NBA workouts was, he said, “That shooting is important.”
Briscoe will now share backcourt duties with incoming guards De’Aaron Fox and Malik Monk. It remains to be seen how much more he will handle the ball in the post-Ulis Era.
He said he thinks he’ll have the ball in his hands more.
“Yeah, I think so,” he said.
“Just running the team,” he added when asked what his role will be. “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.”
Briscoe said he remains in regular contact with Kentucky coach John Calipari about his role going forward.
“Well I think our relationship has been a little better,” he said. “We’ve been meeting probably like once a week, or we will text maybe twice a week. And, just to make sure everyone is in check and everyone is doing what they’re supposed to be doing. And, he looks to me to make sure everyone is doing what they’re supposed to do. So, I think that he is trusting me more than last year. And, I don’t want to let him down so I am just out here doing whatever I have to do to make sure that the team is fine.”
When it got down to the May 25 deadline to withdraw from the Draft, Briscoe said he spoke with Calipari and Kentucky assistant Kenny Payne.
“[Payne] was just saying, mostly what he was talking about was security and I guess that’s with me like going in the first round, you know the security,” he said. “And, it made a lot of sense and I want to feel secure. And, what he was saying was, by this time next year you should only want to focus on getting better. You don’t want to worry about getting a guaranteed contract like that or anything. So, I think that played a key role into me coming back to school.”
Briscoe is currently projected at No. 43 in 2017 by DraftExpress.com.
Meantime, he plans to watch the Draft next week to see where his “brothers” get chosen. Murray is projected at No. 8, Labissiere at 11 and Ulis at 34 (after a hip injury caused his stock to fall).
“Yeah, I’ll watch the draft because my brothers are in the draft,” Briscoe said. “I’m hoping that they all get drafted where they want to get drafted.”
Adam ZagoriaZagsBlog
