Draft decisions affect several schools
The deadline for college players to withdraw from the NBA Draft has a widespread impact.
The decisions made on or just before Wednesday’s deadline will have a lasting effect on the 2018-19 college basketball season. Teams losing key players will have to find replacements, possibly ending up in rebuilding mode. Teams who get their stars back will be eyeing NCAA Tournament runs.
A rundown of how four teams fared at the NBA Draft deadline:
Final Four Most Outstanding Player Donte DiVincenzo, national player of the year Jalen Brunson, Mikal Bridges and, most recently, Big East freshman of the year Omari Spellman are all staying in the NBA Draft after helping Villanova win the national championship. The school announced Spellman’s decision Wednesday.
PJ Washington will return to Kentucky after withdrawing from the NBA Draft, while his Wildcats teammate Wenyen Gabriel has decided to turn pro. Freshman forward Jarred Vanderbilt has decided he also will return to the school.
Brian Bowen is remaining in the NBA Draft after the NCAA told South Carolina he would miss at least all of next season before he would be eligible to play as the federal investigation into college basketball continues. The decision Wednesday means Bowen, the one-time Louisville recruit who transferred to the Gamecocks in January, won’t ever play in college. He was suspended by Louisville after the school said it was being investigated as part of the federal corruption probe into the sport.
The federal complaint stated an Adidas executive and others attempted to funnel $100,000 to a recruit’s family for him to play at Louisville. Details in the documents made clear investigators were referring to Bowen. Missouri forward Jontay Porter has withdrawn his name from the NBA Draft and will return for his sophomore season. Porter, a 6-foot-11 forward, followed the lead of his brother, Michael
Porter Jr., in declaring for the draft last month, but he didn’t hire an agent. Jontay Porter averaged 9.9 points and 6.8 rebounds per game as a freshman for Missouri. He earned SEC Co-Sixth Man of the Year honors and was named to the league’s All-Freshman team.