Kevin Huerter to keep name in NBA draft

CLIFTON PARK — Maryland sophomore and former Shenendehowa star Kevin Hurter announced Wednesday that he will remain in the NBA draft and hire an agent, ending his two-year career at Maryland. 

He waited until the last few hours to make his decision, as the final cutoff to officially declare or not was at 11:59 p.m. Wednesday.

“To all my teammates, past and current, not much needs to be said you’re all my brothers,” the 2016 Shen graduate said in an Instagram post. “I waited last minute because I truly didn’t know what I was going to do, I love College Park and playing for Coach (Mark) Turgeon and everything else that comes with being a student at Maryland. But, I will be keeping my name in the draft, with the intent to hire an agent. So many people have helped me get to this point, but the story isn’t over.”

He is coming off a strong sophomore season, where he averaged 14.8 points and 5.0 rebounds per game. He shot 50.3% from the field and 41.7% from three-point range.

In high school, he played four seasons of varsity basketball, leading them to a state championship his junior year and winning New York State Mr. Basketball during his senior season. 

He worked out privately with four teams in the past few weeks; the Boston Celtics, Atlanta Hawks, Brooklyn Nets and Los Angeles Lakers. He is projected to be selected mid-to-late first round after an impressive NBA combine performance according to various NBA mock drafts. He had initially declared for the draft last month to “test the waters” but has seen his stock rise significantly throughout the process.

The NBA draft is scheduled to be held on June 21 at Barclays Center in Brooklyn.