It came down to the final hours, but Mississippi State’s sophomore Robert Woodard has made his decision. He will remain in the 2020 NBA Draft and forgo his final two years of eligbility, per Jon Rothstein of CBS Sports.
Mississippi State's Robert Woodard tells me that he's staying in the 2020 NBA Draft.
Significant SEC News.
— Jon Rothstein (@JonRothstein) August 3, 2020
Woodard averaged 11 pts and 6.5 rebounds a game for Mississippi State in 2019-20, leading the Bulldogs to 20 wins in the COVID-19 shortened season. He was State’s leading three point shooter, averaging 43% from behind the arc. Woodard has been projected in mock drafts from mid-first round to mid-second round, with The Athletic’s Sam Vecenie tabbing him as the 35th overall selection in his most recent mock. Woodard will be joined by his fellow sophomore teammate Reggie Perry in remaining in the draft, as the latter hired an agent at the beginning of the process.
The loss of Woodard will be a tough blow to the Bulldogs, who will look to replace their top four leading scorers from a season ago. State also saw six players depart the program via the transfer portal, replacing them with two transfers of their own in Louisiana’s Jalen Johnson and Alabama’s Javian Davis, and four true freshmen. MSU now stands at 12 players on scholarship, and they hold the option to find another player at this late date or play under the limit for the 2020-21 season, in doing so fulfilling the requirement under NCAA sanctions from the academic suspensions announced in August.
Photo courtesy of Mississippi State athletics
