Item: With four major off season announcements already setting off various repercussions; Matthew Moyer transferring to Vanderbilt, Cincinnati-area scholastic star Darius Bazley jumping from SU high school recruit to the NBA’s G-League developmental ranks, Oshae Brissett returning for his sophomore season, and Tyus Battle now deciding to get a feel of when he will be selected in the upcoming draft (June 21 at Barclays Center, Brooklyn) by entering his name without signing with an agent, we can expect more developments before the 2018-19 Syracuse basketball roster takes shape.
The next date to keep in mind for Orange Nation, in regards to whether or not the 2018 Sweet 16 starting five will return intact for the upcoming season, is at the end of this week. On Friday, invitations are extended to the NBA Draft Combine to be held May 16-20 in Chicago, commencing a day after the Draft Lottery is held in the same city this season.
In May, besides the combine itself held at Chicago’s Quest Multisport training facility (67 players were invited last year), prospects who have not signed with an agent can work out for teams while continuing their own conditioning programs, and most importantly have until 11:59 p.m. ET on Wednesday May 30 to withdraw their name from the ’18 draft to return to NCAA play.
» Related: A good sign for Tyus Battle returning to Syracuse?
Isn’t Battle among the top 67 players this time around?
Or in other words, isn’t the ACC’s third leading scorer from this past season among the equivalent of being among the essential group of players that will comprise the entire two round draft – plus seven additional players?
The answer is almost sure to be, “Yes,” meaning the intrigue will continue through May as Battle spotlights his skills in Chicago and likely many other locations, focusing intently on making the best decision for when to begin his long-desired shot at an NBA career.
Simultaniously, the coaching staff will be adjusting its recruiting priorities to fill the scholarship quota minus Bazley and perhaps Battle.
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