Oregon Center Bol Bol Headed To 2019 NBA Draft After Agreeing To Hire Agent
Bol Bol, the highly-touted Oregon Ducks freshman whose rookie college season lasted less than 10 games before he went down with an injury, is officially turning pro. As reported on Friday by ESPN, the 7-foot-2-inch Bol has agreed to hire an agent at Creative Arts Agency (CAA), thus ending his college career and allowing him to enter the 2019 NBA Draft, which is scheduled to take place on June 20.
Bol’s decision to turn pro comes close to three months after he first hinted at his plans to enter this year’s NBA rookie draft following just one season in college. While the post has since been deleted, Bol took to Twitter on January 3 to announce that he would not be returning to the Ducks for his sophomore season. At that time, he had recently been ruled out for the rest of the NCAA season due to a stress fracture in his foot.
“Playing for my dream school under my favorite Coach [Dana] Altman has been the Best part of my life and sadly it has come to end sooner than I would like, but thank you for all those who rocking with me & all Oregon fans thank you,” read Bol’s tweet, as quoted by OregonLive.
As shown on his Sports-Reference player page, Bol was averaging 21 points, 9.6 rebounds, and 2.7 blocked shots in nine games for Oregon at the time of his injury. He also shot an impressive 52 percent from three-point range during his abbreviated stint with the Ducks.
How far would Oregon have gone if they had a healthy Bol Bol? pic.twitter.com/ZSuKe5S1yr
— FanDuel (@FanDuel) March 22, 2019
During his NBA heyday in the 1980s and 1990s, Bol Bol’s father, the late Manute Bol, was known mainly for two things — his tremendous height (7-feet, 7-inches) and his uncanny shot-blocking ability. As pointed out by ESPN, the younger Bol appears to have taken after his father as a shot-blocker with good timing, but also stands out for having an “evolved” and versatile game and being a skilled long-range shooter for someone his size.
Per ESPN, Bol has also gained an impressive following on social media, as his total of 650,000 or so Instagram followers puts him behind Duke superstars Zion Williamson and R.J. Barrett as the third most followed 2019 NBA Draft prospect on the social media platform.
While Bol’s height and skill set makes him an interesting draft prospect, his lack of durability thus far has been mentioned as a concern in multiple mock drafts. Earlier this month, Forbes pegged him as the prospective No. 19 pick, noting that the track record for young big men who suffer lower-leg injuries is “not exactly encouraging.” Likewise, Yahoo Sports, which listed Bol as the No. 14 pick in its mock draft, also brought up his injury history and added his lack of bulk as an additional concern, but acknowledged that he could be one of the “highest upside players” leading up to the actual 2019 NBA Draft.
