LIFT Sports Management, operated by former NBA player Mike Miller, landed its biggest client so far when Duke’s Paolo Banchero signed with the agency on Saturday, tweets Jeff Goodman of Stadium. LIFT released a short video announcing the move and welcoming Banchero to its team.
Banchero was one of the top players in college basketball this season, being named ACC Rookie of the Year and earning second-team All-American honors. He also made the NCAA All-Tournament team. Banchero averaged 17.2 points, 7.8 rebounds and 3.2 assists in his freshman season at Duke. He is projected as a top four pick in next month’s draft and is rated as the No. 2 prospect on ESPN’s big board.
Miller launched the agency last year after spending two years as an assistant at the University of Memphis. According to Real GM, he has six other clients who are eligible for this year’s draft.
There’s more draft-related news to pass along:
- Washington State’s Mouhamed Gueye has been invited to participate in the NBA G League Elite Camp, according to JD Shaw of Hoops Rumors. The freshman center averaged 7.4 points and 5.2 rebounds for the Cougars this season.
- Josh Minott of Memphis has been impressive in his early workouts for a few Eastern Conference teams, tweets Adam Zagoria. He averaged 6.6 points and 3.8 rebounds as a freshman with the Tigers.
- Canadian high school prospect Leonard Miller has been ruled eligible for the draft, tweets Jeremy Woo of Sports Illustrated. Paperwork issues prevented him from being included on the official early entries list, but those problems have been resolved.
- Woo has released a new list of top 100 prospects, which has Auburn’s Jabari Smith at No. 1. Woo calls Smith “the best pure freshman jump shooter to enter the draft in years” and “a legit No. 1 pick candidate in most drafts.” Rounding out his top five are Purdue’s Jaden Ivey, Banchero, Gonzaga’s Chet Holmgren and Kentucky’s Shaedon Sharpe.
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