Today marks a new age for the NBA, NCAA, and professional men’s basketball in general. Syracuse commit Darius Bazley is a 17 year old Mcdonald’s All American, and projected top-10 selection in the 2019 NBA draft. Bazley has decided instead of attending college, he will turn pro and sign in the NBA G League. Bazley told Yahoo Sports Shams Charania how he came about this decision.
“This is a life-changing decision,” Bazley, one of the top players in the Class of 2018, told Yahoo Sports. “I put a lot of thinking into this with my mom and close circle, especially sitting down with her. It’s just like making the decision to which college you want to go to. Me and her did some talking, and I prayed on it. I talked to my high school coach, Steve, who played overseas, and then I talked to a couple of guys in the G League who have experience. Ultimately, playing professional basketball has always been my dream. It’s always going to be the dream goal, always going to be the goal until I achieve it. This is going to put me one step closer to doing so.”
Bazley has officially decommitted from Syracuse after accepting a full ride scholarship just last year. However, this is not the first time a NBA draft prospect has decommitted from a University in order to play professionally. The most recent to date is point guard for the New York Knicks Emmanuel Mudiay, who instead of playing for the prestigious Larry Brown at SMU, took his talents oversees to help his family. Bazley essentially is doing the same thing, but instead of playing in China he will be employed by one of the 26 NBA G league teams. Bazley is quickly approching the Jordan Brand Classic and Nike Hoop Summit this summer. Both tourmanents are critcal for his evaluation heading into the draft, his confidence has yet to diminish.
“I’m self-motivated because I know this is what I want to do for the rest of my life. This is how I want to make a living. This is how I want to provide for my family, and provide for my love of basketball. I’m not playing any games with this. I’m attacking this straight forward. I’m not maneuvering around this, take any side steps. I’m taking this head on. This is the decision that I made, and I know it will work. I know what I’m capable of doing, and I’m going to do just that.”
Bazley turns 18 in June and will then be eligible to formally sign a G League contract in September.
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