Goodwin to NBA
Kentucky freshman from LR announces NBA intent
Kentucky freshman and former Sylvan Hills star Archie Goodwin (right) declared for the NBA Draft on Monday. Goodwin averaged a team-high 14 points for the Wildcats, who lost to Robert Morris in the first round of the NIT in March. Kentucky Coach John Calipari said he wanted Goodwin to return for his sophomore season, but said in a statement that “I fully support him choosing to pursue his dreams.”
Archie Goodwin, the former Sylvan Hills star who said last year that signing with Kentucky was a business decision, is ready to start getting paid for playing basketball.
Kentucky Coach John Calipari announced Monday that Goodwin, a 6-5 guard from Little Rock, is leaving the Wildcats after his freshman season to enter the NBA Draft.
Goodwin hasn’t signed with an agent, according to the news release, but it was worded in such a way that he isn’t expected to withdraw from the draft by the NCAA’s April 16 deadline for underclassmen. The release stated Goodwin, the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette’s two-time Mr. Basketball, will “forgo his sophomore season.” There was no mention of testing the NBA waters.
Goodwin, who doesn’t turn 19 until Aug. 17, has been projected as a middle to late first-round pick on several NBA Draft websites.
“Although I really wanted Archie to return for his sophomore season, I fully support him choosing to pursue his dreams,” Calipari said in a news release. “He has the drive and desire to be great, and I will continue to do everything I can to make sure he succeeds in life both on and off the court.”
Goodwin was the only Kentucky player to start all 33 games this season and he averaged a team-high 14.1 points along with 4.6 rebounds, 2.7 assists and 1.1 steals. He scored 10 or more points in 25 games, including a career-high 28 against Morehead (Ky.) State, 24 against Ole Miss, 22 against Louisville and 20 against Georgia.
In Goodwin’s only game in Arkansas, he led the Wildcats with 14 points in a 73-60 loss to Arkansas in Walton Arena. He was booed loudly throughout the game, but said afterward it didn’t bother him because Little Rock is his home, not Fayetteville, and he knows he’d be cheered there.
“This is something I’ve dreamed about my entire life, and I feel like the opportunity is there for me to play at the next level,” Goodwin said in a news release about his decision to enter the draft.
Goodwin said he will remain enrolled at Kentucky and complete this semester.
“I’ve loved my time at UK and want to thank Coach Cal, the staff and my teammates for helping me get where I am,” he said. “I especially want to thank the Big Blue Nation for all their support.”
Goodwin’s decision to enter the draft is a reversal from comments he made after he scored 18 points in Kentucky’s season-ending 59-57 loss at Robert Morris in a first-round NIT game.
“I don’t think I’m ready to go,” Goodwin told reporters when asked about the NBA. “If any of us were saying we think we should leave, then we’d all be delusional.”
The NBA Draft will be held June 27 in New York’s Madison Square Garden.
Two other Kentucky players, freshman center Willie Cauley-Stein and sophomore guard Kyle Wiltjer, announced Monday they will return to the team.