To little surprise, the Syracuse sophomore is going to be testing the waters.
Syracuse Orange basketball fans have been waiting on Tyus Battle’s decision for weeks now. And with a looming declaration deadline this weekend, we finally got our answer today — per a report from Jonathan Givony.
Syracuse wing Tyus Battle, a projected first round pick on the latest ESPN mock draft, will declare for the 2018 NBA Draft without an agent, sources say.
— Jonathan Givony (@DraftExpress) April 20, 2018
As stated there, Battle will declare for the 2018 NBA Draft without hiring an agent. This isn’t necessarily surprising, especially with potential first round pick chatter in some circles. By not hiring representation, he’ll be able to retain his amateur status and NCAA eligibility until the withdrawal deadline on June 11. If he should hire an agent before that date, he’d lose any ability to return to Syracuse.
After a teaser tweet this morning from Tyus’s father, Gary, it seemed like the decision could still go either way. That may still be the case, clearly, since he’s not ruling out a return to SU at the moment.
As a sophomore in 2017-18, Battle led the country in minutes per game, averaging 39 over the team’s 37 contests. He averaged 19.2 points per game, along with 2.9 rebounds and 2.1 assists. Battle shot 39.9 percent from the floor, and 32.2 percent from three, to go with 83.9 percent from the free throw line. He was a clutch shooter late in games, as we first saw in 2016-17 vs. Clemson.
Givony mentions that Battle is a first rounder in ESPN’s latest mock draft. However, other outlets see him as more of a second-rounder. SI has him going mid-second to the Lakers, while NBADraft.net doesn’t include him (though that may be because he’s an underclassmen that hadn’t yet declared).
If Battle goes the draft and ends up selected in the first round, it would be the sixth straight year and ninth time in the last 10 years that the Orange had a first-rounder (not too bad for a team that apparently can’t turn out pros...).
Whatever decision Battle makes, we wish him the best going forward.
