College Basketball: Kansas Jayhawks
Kansas center Udoka Azubuike was to visit with coach Bill Self on Tuesday night, then likely make an announcement sometime today (Wednesday) regarding his impending decision whether to keep his name in the 2018 NBA draft or return to KU for a junior year, Self said Tuesday.
The decision has to be made in the next 30 hours or whatever, so yeah, I think hes real close to doing that, Self said in a conference call with reporters just after 4 p.m. Tuesday.
He knows he has to do it (make decision soon). Certainly I think its OK if hes going to enter the process why wouldnt he take the maximum amount of time to try to figure out what all the information is? And I think hes done that. I dont see anything negative with that.
Azubuike, a 7-foot center from Nigeria who has completed two seasons at KU, has entered his name in the 2018 NBA draft without an agent, thus has until 10:59 p.m. Central time Wednesday to remove his name if he wishes to play college ball next season.
I dont think anything is going to happen today, though, Self said of a possible Tuesday night announcement. I dont know the timing of it (todays announcement). I think he wants just a little bit more time to think about it before he said anything.
Self has spoken with NBA scouts and front-office types about Azubuike as he does with all his players.
I have heard that people are really impressed with him, Self said. Ive heard that he played well in Chicago … All our guys did. Svi (Mykhailiuk) had one unbelievable day. Devonte (Graham) had one unbelievable day and Doke had two really good days. They all helped themselves.
I think the opinions that people have of him (Azubuike) are very, very high. Doke has been able to get information and certainly theres a lot of people that think very highly of him. But he also knew going in what his goals would be in what he wanted to find out in order to stay in the draft. Ill let him tell what his decision is whenever he makes the release.
Azubuike told The Star on May 17 at the NBA Combine he would pretty much need a first-round guarantee in order to go pro now.
Pretty much, Im not in a hurry, Azubuike told The Star at the Combine. If it is going to take me another year or whatnot, according to what the NBA says, (then) Im going to go by what the NBA says.
Azubuike, 18, averaged 13.0 points and 7.0 rebounds a game his sophomore season. He hit a school-record 77.0 percent of his shots but made just 41.3 percent of his free throws.
He had 27 points and 10 rebounds combined in two games at the combine.
