Terrance Ferguson will not attend Arizona, pursue professional opportunities

The highly-ranked recruit is heading overseas and not Tucson

The highly-touted 2016 Arizona Wildcats recruiting class lost arguably its greatest asset this week when Terrance Ferguson informed Sean Miller that he will not attend college and pursue professional opportunities.

"Terrance Ferguson informed me earlier this week that he has decided to pursue professional opportunities instead of attending the University of Arizona this fall," Miller said in a statement. "I hope this next chapter of his basketball career goes well, and his goal of one day becoming an NBA player is realized."

Based on reports from a few weeks ago, it’s likely that Ferguson will head to Australia for a year before making his way to the NBA Draft, where he is a projected first round pick.

This is the same path that Emmanuel Mudiay took after attending the same "school" as Ferguson. Mudiay ended up being the 7th overall pick in the draft after playing a year in China.

It’s also not the first time that Arizona has dealt with a similar situation. Brandon Jennings was committed to the U of A, but then opted to play in Italy for a season before being the 10th overall pick by the Milwaukee Bucks.

I’m honestly surprised that this doesn’t happen more often. With the NBA forcing players to wait a season after graduating from high school before they can enter the draft, it seems like the better, more mature players would almost be better off going overseas to make money for a year rather than playing for free in college.

from Arizona Desert Swarm - All Posts http://ift.tt/29ibSZN
via IFTTT