When Oregon freshman Bol Bol went down with a season-ending foot injury in January, it was expected that the former five-star prospect would never suit up for the Ducks again. That became official on Friday, when Nick DePaula of ESPN reported that Bol had hired an agent and will enter the 2019 NBA Draft.
Bol, the No. 4 prospect in the class of 2019 based on his 247Sports Composite rating and a potential lottery pick this summer, will join CAA. By signing with an agent, the 7’2 native of Sudan is ineligible to return to college. Still, there wasn’t much of an expectation that Bol was going to return to school for his sophomore campaign, even after undergoing surgery on his injured foot.
While his freshman year only consisted of nine games, Bol’s talent was evident when he stepped on the floor for the Ducks. The big man averaged 21 points, 9.6 rebounds, and 2.7 blocks in 29.7 minutes a game for the eventual Pac-12 Tournament champions while hitting 52 percent of his attempts from three.
Between his foot surgery, the fact that he’s still a bit raw as a player, and the fact that he desperately needs to add some weight to his frame — he clocks in at 235 pounds — Bol is hardly a sure-thing. The son of Manute Bol is still a really intriguing prospect, and while he is among the hardest players to project in terms of their draft position and what they’ll become in the NBA, there are certainly reasons for optimism about what he can become someday.
