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Most mock drafts now place Sellers as the No. 4 or No. 5 pick, which would send her to the Washington Mystics or expansion Golden State Valkyries. Still, that hasn’t kept the Sellerses from making their pitch. They feel Chicago would be a perfect fit for Shyanne — her older sister Syarra is even studying law at DePaul, regularly teasing Shyanne about the prospect of living in the same city again. And for the Sellers family, it’s hard not to hope for a return home. “It really brings you full circle,” Brad Sellers said. “She knows what the city of Chicago means to our family and what it has done for us. To see her come back, it would be a joy for me.” The Bulls drafted Sellers with the ninth pick in the 1986 NBA draft as they began building a roster around Michael Jordan. Sellers didn’t stay in Chicago long enough to reap the benefits of the ’90s Bulls. He was traded to the Seattle Supersonics just three years later and remained in the NBA until 1993, when he continued his playing career overseas.
Hailed as a southside hero, DePaul University will retire one of its most celebrated alumni’s jersey this weekend – NBA Great & Chicago Native, Terry Cummings. This prestigious honor will take place Feb. 24 at the home of Blue Demons basketball – Wintrust Arena – during halftime of the 5pm DePaul/Georgetown game.
At this juncture, Max Strus, a career 37.1% 3-point shooter over three seasons with Miami, appears headed out of South Beach on the open market. There are several teams often mentioned by league personnel as Strus suitors, from those with cap room like Detroit, Indiana and Orlando, to teams that have the full mid-level exception like Cleveland, and others that are working to get under the first tax apron and gain access to that $12.2 million salary slot. The Cavaliers are looking at all kinds of wing targets, sources said, from Strus to Kelly Oubre to Georges Niang. There appears to be enough of an interest in Strus around the NBA that league figures aren’t expecting the DePaul product to return to Miami, and Strus sounds likely to command above the full mid-level in average annual salary when everything’s said and done.
Chris Haynes: Undrafted free agent Javan Johnson out of DePaul has reached an agreement on a one-year deal with the Golden State Warriors, his agent Daniel Hazan of @hazansportsmgmt tells @NBAonTNT, @BleacherReport.
Tony Jones: The Utah Jazz are signing DePaul big man Nick Ongenda to their summer league roster, League Sources tell The Athletic
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KC Johnson: Peter Patton is coming home. The Bulls plan to hire the former Loyola Academy/DePaul star in player development, per sources. Patton has worked as shooting coach for the Timberwolves and Mavericks, where he worked closely with another local product, Jalen Brunson, among others
So Strus returned to Chicago and completed what he was told from DePaul’s athletic department was the necessary paperwork to declare for the NBA draft as an underclassmen. He had workouts lined up with several inquiring teams. Only he was never permitted to participate. He wasn’t allowed to set foot in a facility. While Strus may have fulfilled the NCAA’s requirements for declaring as an early entrant, he was unaware of the simplest box that needed to be checked to turn professional: sending an email to the NBA office, expressing direct — and signed — intent of submitting his name into the draft pool.
“That was like the last step,” Strus told Yahoo Sports. “I didn’t even know what it was supposed to say.” When asked for specifics on how the process could have devolved, his head still shakes and he lets go of a sigh. No bitterness remains in his voice, but a definite lingering sense of confusion. “Still trying to figure it out. I can take the blame, but I didn’t know any better. At the time, DePaul didn’t really have guys that were doing that, so I guess we all learned from it.” By that August, in another cruel twist of fate, the NCAA announced basketball players would be allowed to hire representation, enter the draft and still retain amateur eligibility — allowing the very guidance Strus had truly needed.
During this past NBA offseason, Miami Heat shooting guard Max Strus became one of the first professional athletes to undergo a refractive surgery for EVO Implantable Collamer Lenses (ICL) in hopes to improve his vision. Strus, an undrafted sharpshooter out of DePaul University, is in his fourth NBA season and had been wearing contact lenses since he was in fifth grade.
DePaul center Nick Ongenda declared his intention to enter the 2022 NBA Draft this morning. Ongenda intends to still maintain his NCAA eligibility. He has two years of eligibility remaining and can withdraw from the draft to return for next season.
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Michael Scotto: When you transferred from DII’s Lewis University to DePaul, did you see yourself as a guy that could make it to the NBA? Max Strus: No, I never thought I’d be in the NBA. That was never really a thought of mine. You can even ask my college coach on my visit. I sat down with him, and when they asked me where I wanted my basketball career to go, I said, “I can see myself going to play overseas and trying to make a living off playing basketball.” Going from D-II and where I was at that point, I thought it was going to be Europe or overseas. But then, during my first couple of days on campus at DePaul, after the first couple of practices, coach Dave Leitao called me into his office. He said, “You need to change your goals here. You can play in the NBA. You’ve got what it takes.” That’s what changed my mindset and what drove me to want to get where I am today.
Xavier Sanchez: Javon Freeman-Liberty (Whitney Young/DePaul) is declaring for the NBA Draft. In 24 games for the 2021-22 Blue Demons, he averaged 21.7 points on 43 percent, 7.3 rebounds, 3.2 assists, and 1.7 steals in 34.9 minutes per game. Also, shot 36.8 percent from three-points range.
Brad Townsend: There's also some info contained in Mavs SL coaching staff, some are returnees, others not: Travon Bryant (Missouri), Pete Crawford (Minnesota-Duluth), George Galanopoulos (Indiana), Brian Grant (Oklahoma), Peter Patton (DePaul), God Shammgod (Providence), Nelson Terroba (Texas)
Rod Boone: Today's list of players the #Hornets are conducting pre-draft workouts with: Vrenz Bleijenbergh (Belgium) Feron Hunt (SMU) DJ Stewart (Miss. State) Ethan Thompson (Oregon State) Romeo Weems (DePaul) Marcus Zegarowski (Creighton)
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