Nike putting name in for the NBA draft

Redsea · April 5

There is an article on Miamiredhawks.com

The_Sackman · April 5

Not too concerned about this at all. Maybe he will see how much work he has to do.

JiveHawk · April 5

*to get an evaluation.

I like that the NBA does this now. It allows athletes to figure out where their game is weak and strengthen it up during college. It prevents what we see in football where guys leave early, don't get drafted, and have no way back.

Bluesman · April 5

I have no problem with his testing the waters. I don't think he is NBA ready by a long shot, but I don't begrudge him testing the waters. Hopefully he returns to Miami.

yanksalex · April 5

JiveHawk said:
*to get an evaluation.

I like that the NBA does this now. It allows athletes to figure out where their game is weak and strengthen it up during college. It prevents what we see in football where guys leave early, don't get drafted, and have no way back.

I mean, yes, or he could just listen to his coaches.

mpurdy22 · April 5

He ain't ready for the NBA. But hey, if he is allowed to get evaluated, maybe it will help him.

Bash_Riprock · April 5

I'm guessing that the evaluation results might be a total surprise (or maybe a little shocking) to Nike.

skins · April 5

NBA..."Nike...go left...ok, thank you" ;)

profholt82 · April 5

He may just have a shot at the Serbian B league.

AORedHawk33 · April 5

A bunch of grown men behind keyboards tearing down a 19 year old kid for chasing his dream, no matter how far-fetched it might be.

Good job guys.

Bash_Riprock · April 5

tearing down or injecting a dose of rational reality?

thechuck_2112 · April 5

If they tell him he's gonna be drafted, then I absolutely wish him the best and hope he has a stellar career!

If they tell him he has to work on XYZ to get drafted, I hope that gives him motivation to work his ass off on XYZ while playing in a Miami uniform so he can succeed in the future.

This is a no-downside situation. As @jivehawk said, the evaluation thing is a much better system than the NFL has now.

AORedHawk33 · April 5

Bash_Riprock said:
tearing down or injecting a dose of rational reality?

Isn't that what they pay the NBA scouts for?

Bluesman · April 5

AORedHawk33 said:
A bunch of grown men behind keyboards tearing down a 19 year old kid for chasing his dream, no matter how far-fetched it might be.

Good job guys.

I was quite clear, that while I personally don't think he is NBA ready, I fully support this decision. Matter of fact I told Nike that when he announced on Twitter. And that if things don't work out, Miami is waiting for him.

yanksalex · April 5

A bunch of grown men behind keyboards tearing down a 19 year old kid for chasing his dream, no matter how far-fetched it might be.

Good job guys.

If I chased my far-fetched dreams, I'd end up like this guy. https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/buzzfeednews/taylor-swift-dj-trial

We all know how this ends. Nike is going to be told he isn't a realistic candidate for one of the 60 draft selections and, in all likelihood, will be back in Oxford next year. This is actually a lot better than before when he was not-so-quietly gauging interest from other schools, including local rivals.

Jack has obviously had a hell of a time getting through to Nike, especially in both of their second seasons at Miami. Recall that we were heading full steam towards an 0-5 start in MAC play before Nike was benched for almost the entire second half vs. Akron. Maybe being told he isn't NBA ready (which should be kind of a given since Big East schools have also passed on him in this short off-season) will be the kick in the pants he needs. However -- and I hope I'm dead wrong about this -- Nike strikes me as a kid who will always think there is something bigger than Oxford and the Miami program out there for him. I don't think his heart is 100% in the program and I'd still wager heavily against him finishing 4 years at Miami. Again, I'd love to be dead wrong about all of it and I'd love to see an ever improving, ever more engaged Nike Sibande on the floor for us the next 2 seasons.

Bluesman · April 5

As long as if it doesn't work out, he comes back to Miami, this actually could be to Miami's benefit. If he is told hey Nike work on your mid range game. Or work on your handle. Or work on getting the ball distributed to teammates or work on better shot selection, and he listens, and comes back to Miami to work on those things, then our program benefits. So I have no issues with this move.

Bash_Riprock · April 5

AORedHawk33 said:

Bash_Riprock said:
tearing down or injecting a dose of rational reality?
Isn't that what they pay the NBA scouts for?

Sure they do, but why pay for something when you can receive the same thing from Internet for free! :)

laxdaddy · April 5

I think this is a worthwhile exercise for Nike to go through.

Of course, why does he think that he has to get that feedback from the NBA committee? There were a lot of Hawktalkers willing to give him advice on his game.

:D

On a serious note, what if the advice he gets is that he needs to surround himself with better players and compete against higher level talent?

:C

profholt82 · April 5

When I made that brilliant Serbian league quip, I had just read the Ringo thread, and had it mixed it up in my head that this thread was about him trying for the NBA, not Nike. While I think Nike is a long shot, he certainly has a ton of potential, and I could definitely see him making the developmental league.

agc · April 5

Well, if I were him, I would do the same What does he have to lose? This is his dream. I say go for it, get some feedback, and work hard to improve his game. Call it a "2-year plan". Start now so as to get drafted by 2021

Redsea · April 5

My guess is 99% of Hawktalkers are hoping for Nike to have a long and successful NBA career.

I just hope he is still going to class and hasn't mentally checked out thinking he will be one of the 60 kids drafted next year- but there is some benefit to getting honest feedback.

I thought I remember that Wally did the same thing after his junior year and was told that he would be bottom of the first round and then he decided to come back.

However, what I am most concerned about is Miami basketball. If we lose both Nike and Jalen then we lost both "high" major players that Coach Owens talked about when he took over before they were even juniors and before we even had a winning MAC record. That would be a substantial disappointment to me.

digitalhawk · April 5

"This is a no-downside situation."

Unless he decides to work on his NBA game during the Miami games. Which I think we've seen some of already.

Roundballfan · April 5

I wish all the players well, but in my view Nike was a distraction for most of the season. Coach Owens could not make him see that and I have to wonder if this was part of the reason Jalen decided to transfer.

mollautt · April 5

=>Read this today...

"The most underrated guard in the draft

DevilGrad · April 5

yanksalex said:
A bunch of grown men behind keyboards tearing down a 19 year old kid for chasing his dream, no matter how far-fetched it might be.

Good job guys.

Jack has obviously had a hell of a time getting through to Nike, especially in both of their second seasons at Miami.

Maybe Coach Owens is at least tacitly encouraging the NBA evaluation *to* get through to Nike. It may be press release bullshit, but he sounds pretty supportive of the process. And having the scouts tell the kid everything the coach has been saying all year might be a good learning experience for everyone involved. Way too early to draw any negative inferences about this one.

Quinoaburger · May 27

We kind of expected this, but it's being reported that Nike is going to withdraw from the draft.

https://twitter.com/JonRothstein/status/1132729163079720961

Re6H5wk · May 27

Glad to hear he'll (likely) be back. Even with Adaway gone, I think we have a chance to be pretty good next season. Nike and Brown have a couple of years under their belts, Bam took a big step forward last season, and I'm excited about the incoming freshmen. Hopefully ICL will be at 100%.

aba222 · May 27

yanksalex said:
We all know how this ends. Nike is going to be told he isn't a realistic candidate for one of the 60 draft selections and, in all likelihood, will be back in Oxford next year. This is actually a lot better than before when he was not-so-quietly gauging interest from other schools, including local rivals.

Jack has obviously had a hell of a time getting through to Nike, especially in both of their second seasons at Miami. Recall that we were heading full steam towards an 0-5 start in MAC play before Nike was benched for almost the entire second half vs. Akron. Maybe being told he isn't NBA ready (which should be kind of a given since Big East schools have also passed on him in this short off-season) will be the kick in the pants he needs. However -- and I hope I'm dead wrong about this -- Nike strikes me as a kid who will always think there is something bigger than Oxford and the Miami program out there for him. I don't think his heart is 100% in the program and I'd still wager heavily against him finishing 4 years at Miami.

I’m with you. Something seems off.

EDDIE · May 27

Very good news. Hopefully, he'll lead us to the NCAAs and graduate.

Redsea · May 28

I just a tweet from Miami basketball confirming he is coming back. Great news

Nike putting name in for the NBA draft

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