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As we here at Building The Dam predicted a few weeks back, junior forward Drew Eubanks has decided to forego his final year of collegiate eligibility and declared for the NBA draft. Beav fans will recall that Eubanks declared last year, but didn’t hire an agent, which allowed him to get evaluated by NBA personnel before deciding to return. This time around, however, Eubanks has hired an agent which ceases his status as an amateur, therefore ending his college career.
— Troutdale (@DrewEubanks12) March 30, 2018
Eubanks, along with Tres Tinkle and Stephen Thompson Jr. were part of a freshman class in 2015/2016 that helped Gary Payton II lead the Beavs back to the Big Dance for the first time since the early 90’s. His sophomore season was less spectacular, as the loss of Payton, and the season ending wrist injury to Tinkle proved to be too much of an obstacle for the Beavs as they finished the 2016-2017 campaign with a paltry 5 wins. Despite the poor team performance, Eubanks flashed enough potential that NBA scouts started to take some notice. They 6-10 rim protector out of Troutdale showed a host of raw athleticism while averaging career highs of 14.5 points, 8.3 rebounds and 2.2 blocks per game.
His junior campaign proved better for the Beavs, but improved depth and the return of Tinkle ate into Eubanks’ stat line. For the season he averaged 13.2 points, 6.8 rebounds and 1.7 blocks per game. While it was not a foregone conclusion, most Beav fans and those close to the program are not surprised by today’s announcement. Eubanks will look to impress scouts at workouts and potentially the NBA combine if invited. Early projections have Eubanks as a late second round pick or an undrafted free agent.
Looking ahead to next season Wayne Tinkle and his staff will have big shoes to fill with Eubanks’ departure, but they do have several big men set to arrive on campus this summer. 7-foot-1 JUCO transfer Kylor Kelley, 7-foot 4-star Jack Wilson and 6-11 3-star Warren Washington will join current Beavs Gligorije Rakocevic, Ben Kone, Isaac Barnes as the frontcourt players on the OSU roster.
We here at Building The Dam would like to wish Drew the best of luck in his future endeavors. Thanks for the memories.
Go Beavs