Vanderbilt guard Scotty Pippen Jr. introduced Saturday that he’s declaring for the NBA Draft whereas retaining his collegiate eligibility. Pippen Jr. averaged 20.8 factors for the Commodores as a sophomore. His announcement comes 34 years after his father, Scottie Pippen, was taken fifth total in 1987.

Although Pippen Jr. has outplayed his modest three-star prospect score from the category of 2019, he isn’t listed on the 2021 NBA Draft Prospect Rankings by CBS Sports activities. The 6-foot-1 guard performed the position of lead scorer this season for Vanderbilt whereas additionally averaging 4.9 assists per recreation.

His savvy as a distributor will doubtless be important to his hopes of taking part in within the NBA. At simply 6-foot-1, Pippen can be undersized as an off-ball guard until paired with a bigger level guard. He is proven promise as an out of doors shooter, although, and should challenge as a combo guard in the best skilled system.

In fact, returning to school remains to be an choice, and selecting that route can be useful for a Vanderbilt program looking for its footing as coach Jerry Stackhouse enters his third season with only a 20-37 document. Nevertheless, the wording of Pippen’s announcement recommended he could also be leaning in direction of maintaining his title within the draft.

“First off, I wish to thank God for every little thing He has finished in my life and for His continuous blessings,” Pippen wrote. “I’d additionally prefer to thank my household for being with me each step of the way in which. Your assist, steering, and love have meant the world to me, and you’ve got at all times pushed me to be my greatest.

“To my mates, teammates, coaches, and everybody else who has been a part of my journey, I admire you greater than you already know and none of this might be potential with out ya’ll. I used to be blessed to have the chance to come back to Vanderbilt College and all through the highs and lows, the Commodore group has been wonderful. I am going to always remember that.”