North Carolina Basketball: Will Luke Maye return to the Tar Heels next season?
Luke Maye entered his name in the NBA Draft at the last minute. Will he stay with North Carolina Basketball or head off to the pros?
The deadline for college basketball players to enter their names in the NBA Draft was April 22, which just passed. There were some surprising decisions from players both staying and going, with fans hoping that their best players wouldn’t pop up in the news.
North Carolina fans thought that they were in the clear, with all non-seniors slated to return. That was until the announcement a day later that Luke Maye was entering the NBA Draft. Now he didn’t hire an agent, so he’s free to return at any time in the next several weeks. But now, Tar Heel fans will have to wait for the official news.
When really thinking about it, this isn’t that too surprising of a move. In his first two seasons, Maye averaged around a few points and barely cracking double-digits in terms of minutes played.
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But after losing a ton of depth in the frontcourt from the season prior, combined with being the only veteran presence that head coach Roy Williams trusted, Maye exploded with the increased opportunities. He averaged 16.9 ppg and 10.1 rpg on the season, with several huge performances that had to impressed scouts.
The former preferred walk-on will be a senior next season and one of the team leaders if he returns. He will also have to deal with a more crowded frontcourt, which will likely decrease his production. The freshmen bigs will gain more minutes in 2018-19, while the No. 2 ranked high school player in the country will be coming as well in Nassir Little.
Right now, Maye isn’t projected to be selected in any NBA Mock Drafts. But with his own stock likely not to get any higher, could he decide to go pro and get as much money as possibly overseas? Many players in his position have made the decision to go pro, knowing that they won’t get drafted.
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By no means should Tar Heel fans feel 100% sure that Maye will come back. So just like all the other fans of teams who have players going through the draft process, they’ll just have to sweat it out, hoping to see that tweet that says he’ll return.