Alabama wing John Petty has elected to return to school for his senior year after testing the draft waters, reports Cecil Hurt of The Tuscaloosa News (Twitter link).
Petty, who declared for the draft as an early entrant this spring, averaged 14.5 PPG, 6.6 RPG and 2.5 APG with an impressive .440 3PT% in 29 games (33.5 MPG) as a junior. He ranked 53rd on ESPN’s list of the top 100 prospects of 2020, making him a candidate to be drafted, but he has decided to wait another year before going pro.
Another candidate to be picked in the second round has also withdrawn from the draft, with Chris Smith‘s father indicating that the UCLA forward is headed back to school, per Jon Rothstein of CBS Sports (Twitter link).
The No. 65 prospect on ESPN’s big board, Smith had a breakout junior season for the Bruins, increasing his scoring average to 13.1 PPG while also contributing 5.4 RPG, 1.6 APG and 1.0 SPG in 31 contests (28.3 MPG).
LSU guard Javonte Smart is also pulling out of the draft, Rothstein tweets. Smart, who doesn’t rank among ESPN’s top 100, recorded 12.5 PPG and 4.2 APG in 31 games (34.2 MPG) in his sophomore season in 2019-20.
Monday represents the deadline for college early entrants to withdraw from the draft and maintain their NCAA eligibility..
Because of the draft postponement, the deadline to declare for the draft as an early entrant actually doesn’t arrive for another two weeks. If a player like Petty, Smith or Smart has second thoughts by Aug. 17, he could technically re-enter the draft, as long as he’s prepared to forgo his remaining college eligibility.
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