The University of Arizona basketball program just took another hit today, when forward Brandon Ashley announced that he would be declaring for the NBA draft. Ashley suffered a catastrophic foot injury last season, and probably would have declared for the draft last year if it were not for that injury. Ashley is coming off a decent season for the Wildcats in which he averaged 12.2 points per game and 5.2 rebounds per game. He is only rated as a mid-to late second round pick, so foregoing his senior season is definitely a risk. In this day and age, a lot of domestic players have very successful careers playing basketball abroad, so just because a player may not be NBA bound, doesn’t mean they are not ready to be a professional. He has the right to want to earn money as soon as possible.
Arizona announces Brandon Ashley headed to the NBA. Ashley told me this would have happened a year ago — had he not suffered foot injury.
— Jeff Goodman (@GoodmanESPN) April 8, 2015