Villanova won the NCAA championship on Monday night without a single player projected to be chosen in this year’s NBA Draft, according to DraftExpress.com. according to DraftExpress.com.
Yet juniors Josh Hart and Kris Jenkins will test the NBA Draft waters, according to comments head coach Jay Wright gave to Joe Juliano of the Philadelphia Inquirer.
“The way the process is set up right now is really helpful to the players and to the coaches because you can really advise them properly,” Wright said. “It’s set up where they can go through the whole process. The NBA, if they invite them [to the combine], you have a good shot. After you go to the camp, they’ll tell you where you are. I just think it’s so beneficial to the players.”
The 6-foot-5 Hart, who went for 23 points in the national semifinal blowout of Oklahoma, is currently projected at No. 41 in 2017 by Draft Express.
“Now with how it is, I’m definitely going to go through the whole process and see how that goes,” Hart said.
“If he’s a guaranteed first-round pick, I think he’s ready to handle it,” Wright said. “I just think it’s the right thing to do for him and his family. Sometimes if you don’t think maturity-wise they’re ready, it might not be a good thing. I think he’s ready.”
The 6-6 Jenkins, who drained the game-winning three-pointer against North Carolina in the national champsionhip game Monday night, is not currently on the DraftExpress.com Mock, and NBA executive said before Monday’s performance he “will probably have to make it through the D-League.”
“I’ll go through the process and see how it goes and get feedback,” Jenkins said. “If I hear good things, then I’ll go from there. But if it’s not what I want to hear, then I have another year left in college and there’s nothing wrong with that.”
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