Deng Adel hiring agent, will stay in NBA Draft

The Cardinals just lost their leading scorer.

Just as Ray Spalding did a week ago, Deng Adel has announced that he has hired an agent and will keep his name in the 2018 NBA Draft. Adel had one season of collegiate eligibility remaining.

Yahoo’s Shams Charania? was the first to report the news.

Adel led Louisville in scoring last season at 15.0 ppg, and scored in double figures in every game he played in but two. He also ranked second on the team in both rebounds (5.2 rpg) and assists (2.8 apg). Adel will leave U of L with 998 career points. He posted the following message on Instagram:

Regardless of how you felt about his play this season, I don’t think there’s any debate that Adel returning to school would have bolstered Louisville’s chances of making the NCAA tournament in 2018-19. With him out of the fold, there’s now even more pressure on guys like V.J. King and Jordan Nwora to take the next step.

There’s also additional pressure on Chris Mack and his staff to go out and get a grad transfer (or two) or 2018 recruit (or two) who can put the ball in the basket. This is a Cardinal roster that just lost its only three double figure scorers from a team that at times struggled to score. A new system, a rejuvenated fan base and great team chemistry are all huge positives heading into the offseason, but you need to find some bucket getters if you want that mojo to carry over into the actual season.

Best of luck to Deng in the months ahead.