3 lessons from former Kansas Jayhawks prove that Johnny Furphy should enter NBA Draft
By Tyler Key
Learn from Wayne Selden Jr… Players don’t always raise their draft stock when they return to college for additional years
Another concern for Furphy to consider is that stat regression/not enough improvement during a sophomore year can also hurt a player’s draft stock. The best example of this for KU players is likely Wayne Selden Jr. In 2013, he came to Lawrence as a highly-recruited 5-star player and played alongside Andrew Wiggins and Joel Embiid, both of whom were drafted top three in the 2014 NBA Draft. After averaging 9.7 PPG, 2.6 RPG, and 2.5 APG during his freshman year, Selden Jr. was being projected as a mid-1st round pick, similar to Furphy.
Wanting to improve as a player and take on a bigger role, he returned to KU as a sophomore and did not play well. He shot an abysmal 38.2% from the field during his second year (compared to 43.7% as a freshman) and also averaged less PPG (9.4) as a sophomore. This caused him to have to return for his junior year as well, until he eventually entered the NBA Draft in 2016 going undrafted, even after having a bounce-back year statistically at Kansas.
Selden Jr. did eventually scrape and claw his way to a couple of guaranteed NBA contracts but ended his career with $3.76 million estimated career earnings. For reference, James Young, who was drafted around where Selden Jr. was projected initially, was selected 17th overall in the 2014 draft. Young only played out his initial NBA contract and made an estimated career earnings of $5.25 million. It is much safer financially for Furphy to declare now if he is a projected lottery pick.