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Per the official Baylor Men’s Basketball twitter account, Johnathan Motley will enter the 2017 NBA Draft. Motley will not, however, hire an agent.
Choosing not to hire an agent means that, technically, Motley can remain NCAA eligible and return for his senior season if he decides to remove his name from draft contention 10 days prior to the draft.
Practically though, Johnathan Motley will be playing in the NBA system next year.
All-American Johnathan Motley will enter 2017 NBA Draft, won't hire agent: https://t.co/0yi5dvbOtm #SicEm pic.twitter.com/W9KWCT3WNE
— Baylor Basketball (@BaylorMBB) April 10, 2017
Per #Baylor, Johnathan Motley will enter the 2017 NBA Draft but will not hire an agent. He has until 5/24 to decide if he will return to BU pic.twitter.com/3DpqRtLyJr
— Jessica Morrey (@JessicaMorrey) April 10, 2017
Johnathan Motley recently beat out Purdue’s Caleb Swanigan for the Karl Malone Power Forward of the Year Award. Motley was also a consensus All-American and Wooden Award Finalist.
Motley is recovering from a meniscus tear that occurred during the South Carolina game in the NCAA Tournament. He is expected to make a full recovery.
Draft experts say the NBA draft class next year is full of players competing at Motley’s position, so leaving this year is probably the right move. We wish Mot the best and can’t wait to see him in the NBA!