For hoops heads, this week is a major one. The NBA playoffs are into conference finals rounds and the draft combine gets underway in Chicago. On Tuesday, the lottery will be held and the world will know where Victor Wembanyama is headed.
Most in Arkansas, though, aren’t hoops heads. At least, not to that level. Of bigger concern in the Natural State are the decisions of guard Devo Davis and wing Jordan Walsh. They’re the two Razorbacks basketball players who declared for the NBA Draft but seem most likely of the six who put their name in from Arkansas to return.
Guards Anthony Black and Nick Smith Jr. will be selected. Black is almost certainly a lottery pick and Smith, while his stock has dropped since Christmas, feels like shoo-in for a first-round choice. Wing Ricky Council is projected as a second-rounder or perhaps a signee, but the vibe is that he won’t return to Fayetteville.
Davis and Walsh certainly could. Davis, especially, feels like a bigger possibility as an Arkansas native and a rising senior. He isn’t on any draft boards of note, while Walsh figures in on a few and would just be a sophomore. The NBA prefers youth, as a reminder.
The two players have two weeks to make a determination. The deadline for withdrawing from the draft while maintaining college eligibility is June 1. It’s unlikely either player will wait that long, however. Combine time is about the time such decisions start getting made. Expect to know in the next 10 days.
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