Other teams' 2020 draft decisions

[lotusland]

And much like Leque, Hall is likely to go undrafted. Some kids just don’t want any part of college.

And that’s a good thing. Why the NCAA wants to start dangling booster cash/endorsements to lure these guys into college is beyond me.

[cato]

And that’s a good thing. Why the NCAA wants to start dangling booster cash/endorsements to lure these guys into college is beyond me.

When someone is doing something beyond my understanding, I try to understand why they are doing it, instead of just assuming they are acting irrationally. It is a helpful way of understanding people whose situation is different then mine.

[scottdude8]

Biggest news on this front in a while: Nova's Saddiq Bey is officially staying in the draft.

Nova is already projected by many as the pre-season No. 1, and if Bey returned they might've been a clear favorite. Now there arguably isn't much separation, especially given all the uncertainty, amongst the top 5 teams or so.

[Billy Dat]

Biggest news on this front in a while: Nova's Saddiq Bey is officially staying in the draft.

Nova is already projected by many as the pre-season No. 1, and if Bey returned they might've been a clear favorite. Now there arguably isn't much separation, especially given all the uncertainty, amongst the top 5 teams or so.

I have to say that this puts a smile on my face as it bugs me when people think some other coaches have the ability to keep kids when the NBA comes calling. For all the talk about how Nova and UVA knew how to keep them down on the farm, the fact is that once a program blows up to winning titles and being a perennial title contender, that spotlight helps push the kids out the door.

[sagegrouse]

I have to say that this puts a smile on my face as it bugs me when people think some other coaches have the ability to keep kids when the NBA comes calling. For all the talk about how Nova and UVA knew how to keep them down on the farm, the fact is that once a program blows up to winning titles and being a perennial title contender, that spotlight helps push the kids out the door.

Roy Williams has shown how it's done. Make sure the highly touted recruit plays poorly when he arrives at your school.

[UrinalCake]

I have to say that this puts a smile on my face as it bugs me when people think some other coaches have the ability to keep kids when the NBA comes calling. For all the talk about how Nova and UVA knew how to keep them down on the farm, the fact is that once a program blows up to winning titles and being a perennial title contender, that spotlight helps push the kids out the door.

What gets me is this idea that Villanova, UVA, even UNC according to some are able to win titles without having NBA players. The fact is, all of those programs had multiple players who were immediately drafted after winning a title. They don’t have as many OAD’s as we do, but you still need a combination of talent or experience or ideally both to win a title.

[-jk]

Roy Williams has shown how it's done. Make sure the highly touted recruit plays poorly when he arrives at your school.

I think you meant to say, "Make sure the highly touted recruit plays poorly by forcing him into a system that doesn't match his skill set."

-jk

[scottdude8]

Big news for my Wolverines, as Isaiah Livers is officially withdrawing from the draft and returning for his senior year: https://mgoblue.com/news/2020/7/17/m...ann-arbor.aspx

Michigan has been woefully underrated on most “way too early” lists. With this news the Wolverines should be a Top 25 team most of next season (assuming there is one)... they’ll likely start three seniors alongside a sleeper NBA first-round talent in Franz Wagner, with Wake transfer Chaundee Brown potentially rounding things out. Add to that the consensus best recruiting class in the B1G (including a potential instant impact big in Hunter Dickinson who should compete with RS-senior Austin Davis all year at the 5 spot), returning junior Brandon Johns as a Swiss Army knife off the bench, and a potential impact grad transfer in Mike Smith, and that’s a sleeper team to keep an eye on folks!

[Truth&Justise]

Gonzaga forward Filip Petrusev had declared for the draft but not hired an agent. Reports are that he will join professional team Mega Bamex in his native Serbia and will not return to Gonzaga. Petrusev averaged 17.5 points and 7.9 rebounds for Gonzaga last season.

[DavidBenAkiva]

Gonzaga forward Filip Petrusev had declared for the draft but not hired an agent. Reports are that he will join professional team Mega Bamex in his native Serbia and will not return to Gonzaga. Petrusev averaged 17.5 points and 7.9 rebounds for Gonzaga last season.

That's a big loss for the 'Zags but they should still be quite good. They bring in top 10 guard prospect Jalen Suggs and return a talented frontcourt pairing in Drew Timme and RS-FR Oumar Ballo. Timme had a very similar skillset as Petrusev as a stretch 4 that didn't take or make all that many 3's. They were both more likely to spot up for a 15-foot jumper. Ballo is a physically imposing and athletic big man at 6'10" 260 lbs. That's about as big of a frontcourt as you'll see in college basketball these days. Timme and Ballo are both talented and seem to offer somewhat complimentary skills. Corey Kispert, who is flirting with the NBA, is another scoring option on the wing at 6'7" or so.

I think Gonzaga is a top 10 team all year next season. They didn't seem interested in playing defense much last year. They will be talented but less experienced next season. If they decided to play on both ends of the court, they could be quite good.

Like Villanova and others, I think the top tier of college teams all have big questions next season. It should be a wide open year.

[scottdude8]

Gonzaga forward Filip Petrusev had declared for the draft but not hired an agent. Reports are that he will join professional team Mega Bamex in his native Serbia and will not return to Gonzaga. Petrusev averaged 17.5 points and 7.9 rebounds for Gonzaga last season.

This is indeed big news. While the Zags will most certainly still be a Top 5 team, most prognosticators assumed that Petrusev, Corey Kispert and Joel Ajayi would all return to the Bulldogs. Now with one of that trio likely leaving, that means the Zags won't be a "cut above" the rest of the competitors, as many thought they might.

To me this is very similar to Saddiq Bey choosing to stay in the draft and leave Villanova. Nova and Gonzaga might be the consensus top 2 teams entering the season (knock on wood) even with those losses. But with them, they would've been viewed as in a "tier above" the rest of the competition. Now, I think the grouping of the top 5-6 teams, Duke included, is very tight.

[awhom111]

Gonzaga forward Filip Petrusev had declared for the draft but not hired an agent. Reports are that he will join professional team Mega Bamex in his native Serbia and will not return to Gonzaga. Petrusev averaged 17.5 points and 7.9 rebounds for Gonzaga last season.

Not only did he end up signing with an agent, he signed with the agent's team!

It will be interesting to see how other internationals handle this draft process. There still is not much information on what kind of pre-draft process is going to happen. International leagues on the traditional calendar will be playing around late September. The NBA does not seem to have much of a decision about the timeline for their next season after the initial December start then there were reports about a hoped for March start with full arena capacity. I wonder if some players will be signing European contracts containing out clauses for the NBA so that they have flexibility and the ability to play until their ultimate destination is known. On the men's side, we have actually seemed to have more young internationals decide to come over for college this season, but for veteran players, uncertainty of how the college season will work and the loss of summer both at school and with youth national teams mean that more players could turn professional just to know that they will have the chance to play games and develop after months off.

[Natty_B]

Jay Huff returning to UVA for his 25th year of eligibility. So looking forward to Huff having a dominating game vs Duke sandwiched in between some 2 points 4 rebound games vs like State and Wake.

[Mtn.Devil.91.92.01.10.15]

Jay Huff returning to UVA for his 25th year of eligibility. So looking forward to Huff having a dominating game vs Duke sandwiched in between some 2 points 4 rebound games vs like State and Wake.

NBA entry this year has certainly been a confusing situation. I keep sorta hoping to hear Tre Jones has decided that not playing for Duke seems more fun than not playing in the NBA this fall.

[SavDukeGrad]

Jay Huff returning to UVA for his 25th year of eligibility. So looking forward to Huff having a dominating game vs Duke sandwiched in between some 2 points 4 rebound games vs like State and Wake.

I also saw yesterday that DJ Funderburk is returning to NC State, which I think is big for them. IIRC, he is also another one that seems to elevate his play against us.

[JasonEvans]

Jay Huff returning to UVA for his 25th year of eligibility. So looking forward to Huff having a dominating game vs Duke sandwiched in between some 2 points 4 rebound games vs like State and Wake.

Welllll...

Yes, Huff had a monster against us last season, 15 points on 7-9 shooting with 9 boards and 10 blocked shots, but the previous year his two games against us were 4 points and 1 board in 7 minutes and 8 points and 2 boards in 13 minutes. Not exactly world-beater kinda stuff.

The blocked shots in that one games were crazy, but the points and rebounds were not exactly super far out of the norm for him (he averaged 8.5 ppg and 6.2 rpg last season).

He is a really inconsistent player though, capable of being great one game and a non-factor the next. I dunno why he would not rush to the NBA with a resume like that

[Truth&Justise]

HUGE day for Illinois yesterday: guard Ayo Dosunmu and center Kofi Cockburn both announced they are withdrawing from the draft and returning to Illinois. As a sophomore last year, Dosunmu averaged 16.6 points and 3.3 assists per game, while freshman Cockburn averaged 13.3 points and 8.6 rebounds.

Dosunmu and Cockburn should be one of the best 1-2 punches in the country, and will have Illinois in the hunt for a Big Ten title against a strong Michigan St. team and Iowa led by senior Luka Garza.

[Truth&Justise]

HUGE day for Illinois yesterday: guard Ayo Dosunmu and center Kofi Cockburn both announced they are withdrawing from the draft and returning to Illinois. As a sophomore last year, Dosunmu averaged 16.6 points and 3.3 assists per game, while freshman Cockburn averaged 13.3 points and 8.6 rebounds.

Dosunmu and Cockburn should be one of the best 1-2 punches in the country, and will have Illinois in the hunt for a Big Ten title against a strong Michigan St. team and Iowa led by senior Luka Garza.

As if on cue, Luka Garza makes it official: he is returning for his senior year at Iowa.

He averaged 23.9 points, 9.8 rebounds and 1.8 blocks per game last year.

[SavDukeGrad]

As if on cue, Luka Garza makes it official: he is returning for his senior year at Iowa.

He averaged 23.9 points, 9.8 rebounds and 1.8 blocks per game last year.

Garza will definitely be the front runner for Player of the Year.

[scottdude8]

I just let out an audible sigh of relief: Xavier Tillman is staying in the draft (https://www.mlive.com/spartans/2020/...te-career.html).

Without Tillman, even with Aaron Henry returning, MSU will be a very young team. You never count out a Tom Izzo squad unfortunately, but this turns the Spartans from a preseason Top 10 team into a Top 25 team with major question marks. With other recent news (Garza returning, plus two big returnees for Illinois), Iowa, Wisconsin and Illinois will likely be the top tier B1G squads, with both Michigan teams making up a second tier.