Kentucky sophomore guard and former Roselle (N.J.) Catholic guard Isaiah Briscoe has decided to enter his name in the 2017 NBA Draft and plans to sign with an agent.
The NBA Draft is June 22.
The 6-foot-3 Briscoe is the fourth Kentucky player to declare this month and the third to go with an agent, following freshmen guards De’Aaron Fox and Malik Monk. Freshman forward Bam Adebayo is testing the waters without an agent.
Briscoe is not currently projected to be drafted according to DraftExpress.com.
“BBN, thank you to the greatest fans in the entire world,” Briscoe said. “Thank you to Coach Cal, Coach KP (Kenny Payne), Coach Tony (Barbee), Coach JJ (Joel Justus), Coach Robes (John Robic), and (strength and conditioning coach) Rob (Harris). You helped me develop my game on the court and helped me grow as a man off the court.
“Thank you to my brothers. We’ve been through so much together and accomplished even more. Thank you to my family and friends. Without your support, I wouldn’t be where I am now.
“It was a dream to play in front of BBN and an honor to wear K-E-N-T-U-C-K-Y across my chest. I’m ready for the next step and can’t wait to begin the next journey.”
Players have until 11:59 p.m. ET on April 23 to submit their names for the 2017 NBA Draft.
“Isaiah is a winner,” Kentucky head coach John Calipari said. “Physically and mentally he’s a pit bull with skills with the ball. We averaged nearly 30 wins a season over the last two years and Isaiah played a big part in all of them. Isaiah defends, he rebounds and he creates shots for others. I am so proud of his improvement over his time here and am looking forward to seeing his continued growth at the next level.”
Briscoe was one of the constants during UK’s league title and NCAA Tournament runs over the last two seasons. The Newark, New Jersey native, started 69 of the 70 games he played in and averaged 10.9 points, 5.4 rebounds and 3.7 assists during his two-year college career.
Briscoe declared for the NBA Draft a season ago but returned for his sophomore year to continue to develop his game. The 6-foot-3 guard showed improvement in nearly every statistical category, including overall field-goal percentage (.470, up from .439 in his freshman season), free-throw percentage (.635, up from .460) and 3-pointers made (17, up from five).
The NBA Draft Combine will take place May 9-14 in Chicago.
Since Calipari joined the Wildcat program for the 2009-10 season, UK has produced 28 NBA Draft picks over seven seasons, more than double any other school. Included in the 28 are 21 first-round selections, three No. 1 overall picks, 11 top-10 selections and 14 lottery picks.
