Draft Notes: McClung, Tiebreakers, Seniors, Mballa

Published by admin
May 18, 2021

Texas Tech guard Mac McClung has hired an agent and will remain in the draft, Jonathan Givony of ESPN reports.

McClung decided to test the draft waters last month while concurrently placing his name in the transfer portal. He averaged 15.5 PPG, 2.7 RPG and 2.1 APG for the Red Raiders. McClung, who spent two seasons at Georgetown, had two years of eligibility remaining.

He’s signing with Dan Poneman of Beyond Athlete Management but he has an uphill climb to get drafted. He’s not currently listed among ESPN’s Top 100 Best Available players.

“I just felt the timing was right for me to go all-in,” McClung said.

We have more draft news:

  • The coin flips to determine the tiebreakers in this year’s draft order will made next Tuesday, Givony tweets. Those flips include the Cavaliers and Thunder for the fourth and fifth spots; the Magic, Pelicans and Kings for the Nos. 8-10 spots; the Hornets and Spurs at No. 11, if both lose their play-in games; the Knicks and Hawks for spots No. 19 and 20; the Rockets, Lakers and Knicks for Nos. 21-23; and the Clippers and Nuggets for the 25th and 26th positions. For more info on the lottery standings and draft order, please check out our comprehensive breakdown here.
  • Approximately 100 college seniors have filed as early-entry candidates, Givony writes in a separate story. The “preliminary early-entry list” includes only college seniors, allowing teams an extra two weeks to conduct due diligence on that group of players. The list includes some high-profile playes such as Iowa’s Luka Garza, Gonzaga’s Corey Kispert, Oregon’s Chris Duarte, Oklahoma’s Austin Reaves and Loyola Chicago’s Cameron Krutwig, Givony adds. The full early-entry list will be released at the beginning of next month.
  • University of Buffalo forward Josh Mballa has declared his intention to test the draft waters while maintaining his college eligibility, according to a school press release. Mballa was named the Mid-American Conference Defensive Player of the Year while finishing second on the team in scoring at 15.3 PPG and leading the Bulls in rebounding at 10.8 RPG.