coolhandgopher
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I'm loving this Draft Express blog, here's the latest over the last couple days:
Katz hears from Tennessee head coach Bruce Pearl that Tyler Smith is declaring for the draft, which obviously isn’t going to shock anyone. Smith turns 23 later this year and really didn’t make very much progress in his junior season. Katz did not mention whether Smith will be hiring an agent or not.
Ben Howland of UCLA tells Katz that Jrue Holiday “is listening to folks who may steer him toward declaring,” which if he indeed declares as expected, again isn’t going to surprise any readers of this blog. He’ll be strictly testing the waters for now. We’re hearing an announcement from Holiday could be made in the next day or two.
Greg Monroe is leaning towards returning to Georgetown, which is what we’ve been hearing for the past few months as well.
-DeJuan Blair will officially announce his intentions to enter the NBA draft in a press conference at Pittsburgh tomorrow, a source close to the situation tells DraftExpress. Blair will wait on officially hiring an agent for now, but is not expected to return to Pitt.
-James Johnson has officially ended his college career as a Wake Forest player by signing with Dan Tobin and Thad Foucher of Wasserman Media Group, according to sources with direct knowledge of the situation.
This comes on the heels of a report in the Wyoming Tribune Eagle quoting Johnson saying "my mind's made up; I'm going to enter. I think I'm ready now. If I sign with an agent and get into a training camp, it will help me out a lot. I just want to work hard and go as far as I can."
From what we’ve been told, Wake Forest head coach Dino Gaudio has reportedly expressed some concern on why Johnson is in such a rush to hire an agent without sitting down to discuss the matter with him first. From what we’re hearing, though, Johnson is very likely to be a first round pick. Most NBA teams we’ve talked to have him ranked anywhere from the late lottery to early twenties at worst, and possibly higher. Considering that he already turned 22, even though he’s just a sophomore, it’s not the craziest decision we’ve seen, despite the very early timing.
-James Harden isn’t expected to make a rushed decision regarding leaving Arizona State, according to sources familiar with his thought process. Harden’s family is reportedly very strong on academics, and they want him to finish out the semester at Arizona State before anything else. They’ve reportedly already began the process of interviewing agents, which likely means that he’ll be entering the draft eventually.
-All indications are that Tulsa 7-footer Jerome Jordan is leaning towards returning for his senior year, plugged in sources have informed us. “It’s 75/25 that he’s going back,” the source said. Tulsa head coach Doug Wojcik is making a strong push for him to come back and try and make a run at the NCAA tournament in a John Calipari-less Conference USA, and it appears like he will get his wish.
-LSU junior Tasmin Mitchell will announce shortly that he’s entering his name in the draft. Mitchell is not expected to hire an agent at this time and could very well return to LSU next season.
-Despite reports to the contrary, Al-Farouq Aminu is highly likely to be entering the draft, for good, multiple sources with knowledge of the situation told DraftExpress today. Expect an official announcement shortly.
Sources also say that Aminu’s brother Alade will reportedly be signing with Bill Duffy. A message left for Duffy was not immediately returned.
-On a related Wake Forest note, we’ve heard from multiple sources today that Jeff Teague will indeed be entering his name in the draft, without an agent initially. If Teague is not projected as a top-10 pick by the time the deadline rolls around a week before the draft, he will return to Wake Forest—or least that’s what his plans are for right now.
-One of the biggest question marks remaining regarding potential underclassmen early-entrants revolves around Stephen Curry. Sources say he is heavily considering returning for his senior season in order to get his degree, and is truly torn about the decision.
-South Carolina junior Devan Downey will announce that he’s testing the waters in the next few days.
Katz hears from Tennessee head coach Bruce Pearl that Tyler Smith is declaring for the draft, which obviously isn’t going to shock anyone. Smith turns 23 later this year and really didn’t make very much progress in his junior season. Katz did not mention whether Smith will be hiring an agent or not.
Ben Howland of UCLA tells Katz that Jrue Holiday “is listening to folks who may steer him toward declaring,” which if he indeed declares as expected, again isn’t going to surprise any readers of this blog. He’ll be strictly testing the waters for now. We’re hearing an announcement from Holiday could be made in the next day or two.
Greg Monroe is leaning towards returning to Georgetown, which is what we’ve been hearing for the past few months as well.
-DeJuan Blair will officially announce his intentions to enter the NBA draft in a press conference at Pittsburgh tomorrow, a source close to the situation tells DraftExpress. Blair will wait on officially hiring an agent for now, but is not expected to return to Pitt.
-James Johnson has officially ended his college career as a Wake Forest player by signing with Dan Tobin and Thad Foucher of Wasserman Media Group, according to sources with direct knowledge of the situation.
This comes on the heels of a report in the Wyoming Tribune Eagle quoting Johnson saying "my mind's made up; I'm going to enter. I think I'm ready now. If I sign with an agent and get into a training camp, it will help me out a lot. I just want to work hard and go as far as I can."
From what we’ve been told, Wake Forest head coach Dino Gaudio has reportedly expressed some concern on why Johnson is in such a rush to hire an agent without sitting down to discuss the matter with him first. From what we’re hearing, though, Johnson is very likely to be a first round pick. Most NBA teams we’ve talked to have him ranked anywhere from the late lottery to early twenties at worst, and possibly higher. Considering that he already turned 22, even though he’s just a sophomore, it’s not the craziest decision we’ve seen, despite the very early timing.
-James Harden isn’t expected to make a rushed decision regarding leaving Arizona State, according to sources familiar with his thought process. Harden’s family is reportedly very strong on academics, and they want him to finish out the semester at Arizona State before anything else. They’ve reportedly already began the process of interviewing agents, which likely means that he’ll be entering the draft eventually.
-All indications are that Tulsa 7-footer Jerome Jordan is leaning towards returning for his senior year, plugged in sources have informed us. “It’s 75/25 that he’s going back,” the source said. Tulsa head coach Doug Wojcik is making a strong push for him to come back and try and make a run at the NCAA tournament in a John Calipari-less Conference USA, and it appears like he will get his wish.
-LSU junior Tasmin Mitchell will announce shortly that he’s entering his name in the draft. Mitchell is not expected to hire an agent at this time and could very well return to LSU next season.
-Despite reports to the contrary, Al-Farouq Aminu is highly likely to be entering the draft, for good, multiple sources with knowledge of the situation told DraftExpress today. Expect an official announcement shortly.
Sources also say that Aminu’s brother Alade will reportedly be signing with Bill Duffy. A message left for Duffy was not immediately returned.
-On a related Wake Forest note, we’ve heard from multiple sources today that Jeff Teague will indeed be entering his name in the draft, without an agent initially. If Teague is not projected as a top-10 pick by the time the deadline rolls around a week before the draft, he will return to Wake Forest—or least that’s what his plans are for right now.
-One of the biggest question marks remaining regarding potential underclassmen early-entrants revolves around Stephen Curry. Sources say he is heavily considering returning for his senior season in order to get his degree, and is truly torn about the decision.
-South Carolina junior Devan Downey will announce that he’s testing the waters in the next few days.
