Early Entry Tracker: Ike Anigbogu and Justin Patton Declare for 2017 NBA Draft

The wave of players to declare for this summer’s NBA draft continues after the NCAA Tournament’s completion this week, as Creighton’s Justin Patton and UCLA’s Ike Anigbogu are among the players trying to take the next step to the NBA this week.

Anigbogu joins fellow UCLA frosh Lonzo Ball and T.J. Leaf, who have all already declared, as draft hopefuls this year. Anigbogu totaled just 4.7 points and 4.0 rebounds in 13.0 minutes per game for the Bruins, but is still a projected first-round pick like Ball and Leaf. DraftExpress has him being ranked 19th on its Top 100 prospects list.

Patton, a redshirt freshman for the Bluejays, averaged 12.9 points and 6.2 rebounds in 25.3 minutes per game this season while shooting 67.6 percent from the field. He’s currently 17th on DraftExpress’ board, where he has a chance to be one of the first centers off the board in the first round.

Other players throwing their names in the hat for the draft include Kentucky freshman big Bam Adebayo (30th on DraftExpress), who averaged 13.0 points and 8.0 rebounds in 38 games for the Wildcats, as well as Purdue power forward and Big 10 Player of the Year Caleb Swanigan (28th on DX). The sophomore put up 18.5 points and 9.7 boards in 35 games for the Boilermakers this year while 54.7 percent from the field and 44.7 percent from three on 2.4 attempts per game.