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Jon Rothstein: Keyshawn Hall tells me that he will no longer go through the NBA Draft process and will instead focus on the 2025-26 season at Auburn. The 6-7 Hall averaged 18.8 PPG and 7.1 RPG last season at UCF.
Greenlight Media: Keyshawn Hall, the Big 12’s leading scorer, is declaring for the NBA Draft, he tells @greenlightbball. The 6’7 big-guard averaged 18.8PTS and 7.1REB as a junior at UCF. He notably scored 40PTS at Arizona State and 34PTS vs OK State. Native of Cleveland, Ohio has made previous stops at George Mason and UNLV.
Several teams said UCF’s Taylor Hendricks and Marquette’s Olivier-Maxence Prosper have improved their draft stock in the pre-draft process. One team felt Hendricks could end up as the best shooter in the draft.
Minnesota Timberwolves PR: The @Timberwolves are hosting a draft workout today with the following prospects: Tosan Evbuomwan (Princeton) Jazian Gortman (Overtime Elite) D'Moi Hodge (Missouri) Gabe Kalscheur (Iowa State) Mojave King (G League Ignite) Jalen Slawson (Furman) Marcus Carr (Texas) Michael Durr (UCF) Landers Nolley (Cincinnati) Markquis Nowell (Kansas State) Drew Peterson (USC) Jake Stephens (Chattanooga)
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Down the draft board, rival teams continue to mention the Pacers’ interest in packaging picks Nos. 26, 29 and 32 to move higher into the first round, or land additional talent. Indiana also holds the No. 7 pick, where the Pacers, long in pursuit of a starting power forward, are widely believed to value Houston forward Jarace Walker or UCF forward Taylor Hendricks at that spot.
UCF forward Taylor Hendricks has decided to forego his last three years of college eligibility and declare for the 2023 NBA Draft, he announced Wednesday on Twitter.
Nets Daily: As reported by ESPNU, Sean Marks was at the Temple-UCF game Thursday to watch UCF's Taylor Hendricks, a 6'9" PF. He's mocked at around 23. Nets currently have 21 and 22. Marks also scouted French guard Rayan Rupert who's mocked at around 15.
One player who has excited scouts is UCF freshman forward Taylor Hendricks, an athletic 6-foot-9 wing/forward who is making 42 percent of his five 3-point attempts per game while also blocking shots and providing defensive value. But he doesn’t seem to have a ton of game off the bounce yet. I’ve speculatively added him at No. 49, but I would like to see UCF play some more real teams. He was terrific against Oklahoma State, scoring 16 points and grabbing 12 rebounds. But can he consistently take care of business in those moments? We’ll get another chance to find out against Miami this weekend.
UCF alumnus Alex Martins ’01MBA, CEO of the Orlando Magic, was selected as the new chair of the University of Central Florida Board of Trustees in a unanimous vote by his fellow board members Thursday. He will serve a two-year term as chair beginning July 1.
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An overnight sensation? Not quite. Yet not too far off from the truth. Had he not agreed to join his buddies on that AAU team in July 2017, he might be finishing up his journalism degree at UCF. Now he’s the one being written and talked about. It might continue for a while. Boals, who saw many future pros come through Columbus, believes Preston will play in the NBA. “If you look at it, he didn’t have the normal growth of most guys,” Boals says. “His was completely delayed. His best basketball is still ahead of him, and that’s kind of scary.”
Boston Celtics two way center Tacko Fall recently opened up about his first season in the NBA with team reporter Amanda Pflugrad while visiting the Franklin Park Zoo with his mother and brother. While he didn’t see too much floor time in the Disney restart bubble, the UCF product did make the trip to Lake Buena Vista, Florida with the team, just around the corner from his collegiate stomping grounds.
Since 2012, the NBA has received at least an A grade for its racial hiring practices, according to a report by UCF’s Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sports [PDF]. But a players coalition led by Avery Bradley and Kyrie Irving pushed for the league to do more. Data from the 2019 report shows that while the NBA is ahead of other men’s leagues, Black professionals in leadership roles remain underrepresented relative to the pool of players. Players: Black 74.8%, White 18.1%. Majority owners: Black 2.9%, White 91.4%. Vice presidents: Black 14.8%, White 76.1%. General Managers: Black 21.7%, White 73.9%. Head coaches: Black 26.7%, White 66.7%.
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