Ball Durham
Fansided

Duke Basketball: Marques Bolden and Javin DeLaurier enter NBA Draft

By Kevin Connelly

DURHAM, NORTH CAROLINA - FEBRUARY 05: Marques Bolden #20 of the Duke Blue Devils reacts after scoring against the Boston College Eagles during the first half of their game at Cameron Indoor Stadium on February 05, 2019 in Durham, North Carolina. (Photo by Grant Halverson/Getty Images)
DURHAM, NORTH CAROLINA - FEBRUARY 05: Marques Bolden #20 of the Duke Blue Devils reacts after scoring against the Boston College Eagles during the first half of their game at Cameron Indoor Stadium on February 05, 2019 in Durham, North Carolina. (Photo by Grant Halverson/Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit

Two more Duke Basketball players will be testing the NBA Draft waters in Marques Bolden and Javin DeLaurier, the team announced on Monday morning.

In a bit of a surprise, the Duke Basketball program announced on Monday morning that rising seniors Marques Bolden and Javin DeLaurier will be entered the NBA Draft with the potential to return to school for their senior years.

The deadline for the paper work to be submitted to enter the NBA Draft was 11:59pm ET on Monday, April 21, but the team didn’t announce the big men’s decision until about 11:45am ET on April 22.

The official Duke Men’s Basketball Twitter Account said, “The rising seniors will gather feedback from NBA personnel over the coming weeks, but will maintain their collegiate eligibility, leaving open the possibility of returning to Duke.”

The deadline for underclassmen to withdraw from the draft and return to college is May 29th at 11:59pm ET in order to maintain their NCAA eligibility for the 2019-20 season.

Bolden was considered a one-and-done entering his freshman season at Duke in 2016-17, but injuries and a lack of playing time hampered his decision process.

However, the DeSoto, Texas native is coming off of his best season at Duke, averaging 5.3 points, 4.5 rebounds, and 1.7 blocks per game, all career highs, while shooting 57.9% from the floor and 72.6% from the free throw line, also a career high.

DeLaurier has been offensively challenged in his first three seasons at Duke, finding it hard to get minutes as he has been surrounded with front court talent. The Shipman, Virginia native also posted career highs in points, rebounds, blocks, and shooting percentage with 3.8 points, 4.4 rebounds, and 1.3 blocks per game, while shooting 74.7% from the field, making 59-of-79 attempts.

Marques Bolden and Javin DeLaurier join Zion Williamson, R.J. Barrett, and Cam Reddish by entering their names into the NBA Draft process, but the latter three will not be retuning to Durham as the freshman trio are all projected Top-10 picks.

Aside from Joey Baker, the other heralded freshman, Tre Jones, has already announced that he will be returning to Duke for his sophomore season.

Bolden and DeLaurier are the first pair of Duke players to take advantage of the rule implanted a few years ago that college basketball players can enter the draft to receive feedback from NBA teams and then return to school.

Not counting seniors, the only underclassmen to enter the NBA Draft and not be selected in the First Round of the NBA Draft both came last season with Gary Trent Jr. being picked in the Second Round and Trevon Duval going undrafted.

The Blue Devils will once again bring in a heralded front court, headlined by the ESPN No. 5 overall recruit, the 6-foot-10 center Vernon Carey Jr., in addition to landing a commitment this week from 6-foot-8 power forward and sharp shooter Matthew Hurt.

While both players are not projected to go in the first round, or second round,  in most mock drafts, the duo should return to Durham for their senior seasons. However with a gut instinct, I’m almost positive Javin DeLaurier will return to Duke, but Marques Bolden seems more like a question mark to be back in Durham for 2019-20.

Home/Duke Basketball