One Luke is staying, one Luke could be going, but both Luke Jackson and Luke Ridnour are happy with their decisions about the NBA Draft.
Ridnour submitted a letter to the NBA requesting early entry into the June draft, while Jackson decided not to test the NBA waters and will return to Oregon for his senior season. Both players announced their decisions at a press conference Friday morning.
Ridnour has not hired an agent, which means he can reverse his decision any time until he hires an agent or before the June 19 deadline, one week before the draft itself.
“The best thing about the NBA Draft is that you can explore your options any time up to the week before,” Ridnour said. “I’m just going to pray about it a lot and try to make the right decision.”
Ridnour will begin workouts with individual teams next month. The most important date on his upcoming calendar will be June 4, when he will head to Chicago for the NBA’s pre-draft camp. At that event, Ridnour will be able to get a better sense of how he truly stacks up to the rest of the draftees.
Jackson, meanwhile, technically has until May 12 to reverse his decision not to enter the draft early. But the forward said he’s made up his mind.
“I felt like the NBA would be an option for me, but something that’s important to me and my parents is a good education,” Jackson said. “I decided it’s best for me to stick around and graduate.”
Jackson said he will likely finish up his remaining credits and graduate by the end of next basketball season, allowing him to fully concentrate on pre-draft preparations next spring.
Although Ridnour insisted he is leaving his options open, Jackson spoke as if Ridnour had already jumped ship.
“It’s going to be tough to play without him,” Jackson said of Ridnour. “We’re going to miss him on and off the court. It’s kind of sad to have him leave; I wish him the best.”
But Ridnour said he still hasn’t made a final decision.
“The option of coming back is still not out of it,” Ridnour said.
Ridnour said he doesn’t yet have a target pick in mind to aid his choice. But he said he might come up with a number at some point, where if he’s projected higher he’ll enter the draft, or if lower, he’ll pull out.
Oregon head coach Ernie Kent said draft projections can often be misleading, especially with the amount of foreign players entering the draft.
“You can kind of throw the numbers out the window when it comes to the draft,” Kent said. “My job is to kind of be their agent right now.”
Kent said he’s excited, in a way, about the hype surrounding Ridnour’s possible departure to the NBA. He said it’s a sign of an improving program, comparing Oregon’s situation to the situations faced by many “elite” teams every year.
The rest of the Oregon players, as well, said they’re excited for Ridnour.
“It’s a time to rejoice, to be happy for these guys,” point guard James Davis said. “They represent everything that’s gone right with our program in the past few years.”
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