Freshman wing Rawle Alkins declared for the NBA Draft on April 12, meaning half of the Wildcats’ would-be returning rotation players are now committed to going pro or testing the waters.
And that’s not even including wing Allonzo Trier, who hasn’t said anything one way or another yet.
Alkins posted a note on the morning of April 12 on Twitter that said he would declare for the draft without hiring an agent, which gives him the option to return to school by May 24 if he chooses do so.
Sophomore reserve center Chance Comanche is also declaring without hiring an agent, while departing freshmen Lauri Markkanen and Kobi Simmons have made irrevocable decisions to leave.
“I want to be sure that I am making the right decision,” Alkins wrote, “so after much thought, I have decided to declare for the 2017 NBA Draft without signing with an agent. #SAVAGELIFE.”
A 6-foot-5-inch, 220-pound wing with a solid all-around game, Alkins appears to have an uphill battle to prove himself worthy of a guaranteed NBA contract. Going in the first round would earn him a guaranteed two-year contract worth seven figures, while high second-round selections can typically negotiate at least a modest six-figure guarantee on their own.
Alkins is projected as mid second-round pick in 2018 by Draft Express, and a late first-round pick in 2018 by nbadraft.net. Draft Express analyst Mike Schmitz told the Star’s Zack Rosenblatt last month that Alkins might benefit from more college experience.
“He has the strength and he has the length,” Schmitz said. “He’s a good athlete in transition, but in the halfcourt, when the floor is shrunk, he’s a heavy kid so it’s tough for that to translate. He’s not a jet with the ball.
“He’s going to need to continue to improve his skill level, become a knockdown shooter and really carve out a niche because I think he can do a little bit of everything, but he maybe doesn’t have an elite NBA skill yet, which is OK.”
Of UA’s other draft prospects, Markkanen is an expected lottery pick while Simmons is a projected second-round pick and Comanche is not projected to be drafted. UA has lost an increasing number of players early who wind up outside the 30 first-round picks: Brandon Ashley went undrafted as a junior in 2015, Nick Johnson went No. 42 as a junior in 2014 and Grant Jerrett went No. 40 as a freshman in 2013.
Alkins announced the decision on his own via Twitter instead of through the standard UA channels, like Comanche, Markkanen and Simmons did. UA held a March 30 news conference to announce Markkanen’s decision to leave, issued an April 5 news release saying Simmons would go and an April 8 news release saying Comanche will test the draft.
The NCAA last year started giving underclassmen an extra six weeks to decide whether or not to leave before losing their eligibility, and that change is hitting the Wildcats hard this spring. The UA coaching staff now might not know until late May whether or not Alkins and Comanche will return, and Trier may also take a while to decide.
Five-star Michigan wing Brian Bowen, a UA recruiting target, has said he’s waiting to see how his prospective schools’ rosters fill out before he makes a decision. Bowen is believed to be particularly watching Trier’s decision.
