By Kevin Lonnquist
Publisher
The timing was a bit curious and left many to wonder what exactly was going on. But Baylor’s alpha Jared Butler is turning pro.
A junior from Reserve, LA, Butler announced Sunday that he was entering his name into the NBA draft. Butler is also hiring an agent. College players had until the end of the day on Sunday to announce their draft intentions.
The Final Four’s Most Outstanding Player capped off a historic year for the Baylor men’s basketball program leading it to its first national championship in school history, an 86-70 victory over Gonzaga, and the program’s first conference regular season championship since 1950. Baylor finished its landmark season at 28-2.
This is the second consecutive year that Butler has entered the draft. He did so shortly in 2020 after the season ended prematurely due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Butler did not hire an agent.
However, he announced in early August that he would return for his junior year. The goal was to win a national championship with veteran teammates Davion Mitchell, MaCio Teague and Mark Vital.
Mission accomplished. Butler enjoyed a phenomenal season averaging 16.7 points and shooting 41 percent from 3-point range.
He earned AP Big 12 Player of the Year honors, was a unanimous first-team All-Big 12 selection and first-team All-American selection. Butler was also a Wooden Award finalist for the nation’s top player.
Butler excelled off the court. He served as FBS student-athlete representative on NCAA Men’s Basketball Oversight Committee and graduated on May 8 with a degree in management and marketing.
Butler entered the Baylor starting lineup in mid-January 2019 when Tristan Clark was lost to a season-ending knee injury. He never left it.
The Bears opened the season splitting the No. 1 ranking with Gonzaga in the AP and coaches poll before the Bears finally settled in at No. 2.
They dominated the competition and when they trailed sparingly. Baylor suffered its only two losses late in the season, a setback at Kansas following a three-week shutdown due to COVID-19 issues and then to Oklahoma State in the Big 12 tournament semifinals.
However, the Bears put on an impressive championship run. It defeated all six opponents, Hartford, Wisconsin, Villanova, Arkansas, Houston and Gonzaga, by an average of 15.3 points.
Butler did not have a great start to the NCAA tournament shooting in the 30 percent range. However, he responded in the Final Four averaging 19.5 points and shooting 8-of-14 (57.1 percent) from 3-point range.
Several NBA mock drafts have Butler going late in the first round of the draft. CBS sports has Butler going No. 25 to the Los Angeles Clippers. NBA DraftNet has him pegged at No. 24 to the Houston Rockets. NBC Sports has Butler going No. 21 to the New York Knicks.
The NBA Draft is scheduled for July 29.
Publisher
The timing was a bit curious and left many to wonder what exactly was going on. But Baylor’s alpha Jared Butler is turning pro.
A junior from Reserve, LA, Butler announced Sunday that he was entering his name into the NBA draft. Butler is also hiring an agent. College players had until the end of the day on Sunday to announce their draft intentions.
The Final Four’s Most Outstanding Player capped off a historic year for the Baylor men’s basketball program leading it to its first national championship in school history, an 86-70 victory over Gonzaga, and the program’s first conference regular season championship since 1950. Baylor finished its landmark season at 28-2.
This is the second consecutive year that Butler has entered the draft. He did so shortly in 2020 after the season ended prematurely due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Butler did not hire an agent.
However, he announced in early August that he would return for his junior year. The goal was to win a national championship with veteran teammates Davion Mitchell, MaCio Teague and Mark Vital.
Mission accomplished. Butler enjoyed a phenomenal season averaging 16.7 points and shooting 41 percent from 3-point range.
He earned AP Big 12 Player of the Year honors, was a unanimous first-team All-Big 12 selection and first-team All-American selection. Butler was also a Wooden Award finalist for the nation’s top player.
Butler excelled off the court. He served as FBS student-athlete representative on NCAA Men’s Basketball Oversight Committee and graduated on May 8 with a degree in management and marketing.
Butler entered the Baylor starting lineup in mid-January 2019 when Tristan Clark was lost to a season-ending knee injury. He never left it.
The Bears opened the season splitting the No. 1 ranking with Gonzaga in the AP and coaches poll before the Bears finally settled in at No. 2.
They dominated the competition and when they trailed sparingly. Baylor suffered its only two losses late in the season, a setback at Kansas following a three-week shutdown due to COVID-19 issues and then to Oklahoma State in the Big 12 tournament semifinals.
However, the Bears put on an impressive championship run. It defeated all six opponents, Hartford, Wisconsin, Villanova, Arkansas, Houston and Gonzaga, by an average of 15.3 points.
Butler did not have a great start to the NCAA tournament shooting in the 30 percent range. However, he responded in the Final Four averaging 19.5 points and shooting 8-of-14 (57.1 percent) from 3-point range.
Several NBA mock drafts have Butler going late in the first round of the draft. CBS sports has Butler going No. 25 to the Los Angeles Clippers. NBA DraftNet has him pegged at No. 24 to the Houston Rockets. NBC Sports has Butler going No. 21 to the New York Knicks.
The NBA Draft is scheduled for July 29.
