Camila Sosa
The confidence and talent level of game must be very high for one to decide to enter the NBA Draft without having played a single minute of university basketball, something that appears to be the case with Shaedon Sharpe: the 19-year-old shooting guard who appears to have made a rather blunt decision for his young career.
As reported by The Athletic’s Shams Charania, the Kentucky alumnus is willing to be named to the roster of the Draft, next June 23, to try to become another NBA star who did not play a single second in a U.S. college basketball game.
Shaedon Sharpe’s decision comes after he was enrolled at the University of Kentucky during the mid-semester break last January, when the youngster managed to meet the NBA’s two priority requirements for a prospect to be eligible for the Draft.
The first is that he must be or turn 19 years of age before the draft, something he had no problem with since he turns 19 on May 30.
However, the second requirement, for which there were doubts about his enrollment, is that the player must have one year of high school graduation. Something he managed to accomplish as Sharpe started the current school year at Dream City Christian in the Phoenix area, but he had enough credits to graduate from high school before the start of the NBA season in October. He committed to Kentucky in September and then decided to arrive early in Lexington and enroll in early January.
Sharpe is considered a possible top-five selection in the 2022 NBA draft thanks to his ability to contribute dynamic shooting and an explosive finishing ability that he regularly displays with outstanding dunks, blocks and defensive rebounding.
For its part, the University of Kentucky confirmed the news given by Charania and added that the young man maintains his eligibility to return next year to the Wildcats in case he is not taken by any organization.
Shaedon Sharpe and an Impressive List
Of course, the following list only includes prominent NBA names, but if projections come to fruition and Shaedon Sharpe is taken in the 2022 Draft and becomes a figure in professional basketball, he could soon be alongside these players who didn’t see action in the NCAA either.
The first two places on the list are occupied by Lebron James and Kobe Bryant, basketball legends who jumped to professionalism without knowing what it was like to play a college game. And Tracy McGrady, Kevin Garnett and Giannis Antetokoumpo are other names on the list.
