For high school standouts who plan to play in the NBA in the future, the usual path they take is to stay in college for a year, and turn themselves into a one-and-done player, to comply with the league's requirement. However, there are also some other options available for them, like turning professional overseas, or just working out on their own for an entire year, and focusing solely on the draft.
The latter was the choice made by five-star recruit Mitchell Robinson, who recently announced, via Evan Daniels of Scout.com, that he has decided to leave Western Kentucky and forego his year in college.
“I’ve decided to leave Western Kentucky and just focus on next year’s NBA Draft,” Robinson said. “I want to thank Western Kentucky, the coaching staff, the fans and my teammates, but I decided to pursue a professional career.”
The 7-foot center then added that he believes working out on a daily basis will help his game more, as his main goal is to be NBA ready and become part of the league.
“The lifetime goal of mine is to play in the NBA and I feel like forgoing my year of college and going straight to work on a day to day basis will help prepare me, so I can focus just on basketball and maturing.”
“I just want to get better and just grow as a person.”
Robinson starred for Chalmette High School in Louisiana, where he established himself as one of the best big men of the 2018 class. He was a highly recruited prospect for a lot of NCAA teams, but ultimately chose the Hilltoppers among his suitors.
While playing for a well-known school in college definitely boosts a player's stock, not allowing himself to be seen on the national stage can be considered the biggest risk he'll be taking. However, it could also work out to his advantage if he can improve his conditioning and skill set further with his decision.
Only time will tell.
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