Remember when Shane Larkin announced that he would be returning to Miami back in March? That was March 13th when that news broke, but things have changed for Larkin. Larkin won the ACC Player of the Year (according to the coaches) and most experts have this NBA draft as one of the weakest in recent memory. Both reasons that could push Larkin to the NBA. Let's take a quick trip around the news and see what the latest is on Larkin's decision.
CORAL GABLES — The Tuesday deadline for underclassmen to withdraw their name from NBA draft consideration came and went. Shane Larkin, however, remains undecided.
School officials expect to make an announcement April 28 on the NBA's deadline for submitting for the draft. Tuesday's cutoff was for the players who requested an evaluation from the draft advisory board if they wanted to retain NCAA
eligibility. Larkin presumably did that while reserving final judgment for the NBA-mandated deadline at the end of the month.
Larkin still undecided on NBA Draft status
Chad Ford, ESPN’s NBA Draft analyst, reports that Shane Larkin, the ACC’s Player of the Year according to the conference’s coaches, is “leaning” towards skipping his final two seasons and entering the NBA Draft.
According to Ford’s tweet: “From last night: Just moved Shane Larkin from 50-50 to One Foot In. Sources say he’s leaning strongly toward declaring for draft.”
Larkin has until April 28th to make a decision. According to the second article, one Miami staff member indicated Larkin will make an announcement before that date. Shane, in case you're reading this, you have 10 days and counting.
What should Larkin do? Selfishly, I hope he returns to the ACC as he makes Miami an NCAA tournament team. It's hard to speculate on a kid's financial situation, but it wouldn't be too speculative to think that Larkin's financial situation isn't a factor in his decision.
It's always interesting to look at point guard who is losing a lot of talent around him that he had the prior season. Kendall Marshall was faced with a similar decision a year ago and opted to declare for the draft. While Marshall didn't score as much in college, he did have to consider his ability to put up numbers with a depleted roster. Larkin will have to do the same.
Larkin's biggest weakness is his size and he'll have a tough time changing that with another year in college. DraftExpress.com currently has Larkin being drafted in the late first round at number 27. Considering that this is such a weak draft, its hard to see Larkin improving his draft status that much.
It's impossible to predict what Larkin will do. That said, if I were in his shoes I'd be headed to the NBA if I felt first round money and a guaranteed contract were a likely scenario.
What do you think? What would you do if you were in Shane Larkin's shoes?
