As expected, Julius Randle declared his intention to forego his remaining college eligibility and place his name in the 2014 NBA Draft. If every there was a fait accompli, it was this decision. That's not to say that other players haven't been just as likely to enter the NBA Draft in the past, but Randle was a guy who really proved on the court that he had done about as much as he could do at Kentucky. Somebody put it on Twitter, or perhaps somewhere else, to the effect "What's he gonna do, come back and face triple-teams all year?" Yeah, great point.
Here's Julius in his own words:
In this second video, he talks about his experience at Kentucky.
Julius averaged 15 points and 10 rebounds per game at Kentucky. He was a fine teammate and a wonderful young man to have on our team. He was high-character and did everything he was asked. He improved significantly on defense as the year went on, and by the end of the season, he was one of the better defenders on the team. For a guy who has always been an offense-first player, that's impressive, especially considering some of his teammates were less than impressive in that area.
So congratulations to Julius, he will be drafted high in the draft for certain, probably inside the top five somewhere. Obviously, team needs and workouts will factor into the decision, and a lot of that is still unknown and unknowable until the draft lottery happens on May 20th, and we get reports on how he does in his workouts for various teams who figure to have an interest, of which there are likely very many.
We now await the decisions of:
- Dakari Johnson
- Alex Poythress
- Andrew Harrison
- Aaron Harrison