Syracuse Orange point guard Tyler Ennis has declared for the NBA Draft and will forego his final three years of college basketball. Ennis released an official statement of his intentions through the school on Thursday.
Tyler Ennis will leave Syracuse for NBA
Freshman point guard Tyler Ennis will enter his name into the NBA Draft.
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“I’d like to thank Coach Boeheim, the coaching staff, my teammates and the amazing fans of Syracuse for the opportunity to play at a great university like Syracuse,” said Ennis. “I feel this experience has helped prepare me to fulfill my lifelong dream - to play in the NBA.”
Ennis helped the Orange to a 28-6 record this season by averaging 12.9 points, 5.5 assists and 3.4 rebounds per game. The freshman is considered a pure point guard with decent size, and his maturity was credited a large part in Syracuse’s early success that garnered the team a No. 1 ranking.
DraftExpress currently projects Ennis as the 14th overall pick in the 2014 draft.
In hitting 41 percent from the floor and 35 percent from the three-point line, Syracuse’s point guard has the shooting ability to score with his feet set, and he has decent size. The problematic parts of his game come in his average athletic ability, and as per usual for a player coming out of Jim Boeheim’s zone defense, his ability to play man-to-man defense on a regular basis could become a negative in terms of his draft stock.
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But Ennis’ point guard capabilities will more than make up for the question marks, which is why he was a rising NBA Draft prospect from his first game -- he started all 34 this year -- with the Orange.
This might be the first of multiple Syracuse early-entry announcements. Forward Jerami Grant is also considered a potential first-round pick.
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