Kansas State Basketball: Barry Brown and the benefits of staying
By Chris Taylor
In an announcement on Tuesday, Kansas State junior guard Barry Brown declared for the 2018 NBA draft. What it means for the Wildcats.
Kansas State junior guard Barry Brown has officially declared for the draft, but will not sign an agent, keeping his eligibility open. It isn’t uncommon for players to test the water, to see what kind of placement they can reach with NBA teams. While Brown may be on draft boards across the league, it may be beneficial to both him and the Wildcats to return.
Understanding that each individual is responsible for themselves, Brown should only be thinking about himself. I will be looking at the Wildcats with and without Brown as well.
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Aran Smith of nbadraft.net has Brown ranked 63rd on his Draft Board. It takes a while to scan the internet before you find a mock draft that has Brown listed. Uncle Charlies Mock Draft and Chicken Wings isn’t the most reliable source.
What this means is, usually, that said player would likely go undrafted and have to work his way up through the D-League. There is nothing wrong with that, other than the fact that it happens to underclassmen.
The percentage of kids who leave school early and become quality minute guys in year one is very low. Of course, there are exceptions. The possibility of millions is hard to pass up.
Brown’s chances
His chances of getting drafted are slim to none. There are multiple guards being drafted ahead of him just from the Big 12 Conference. Graham and Mykhailiuk from Kansas, Young from Oklahoma, Carter from West Virginia and Smith from Texas Tech are just a few. In total, there are at least 30 guards ranked ahead of Brown according to NBA.com.
The mountain Brown has to climb here isn’t impossible, just improbable.
https://twitter.com/barrybrown05/status/980942985646018560
If Brown returns
If Brown returns to Manhattan, Kansas, his name will be near the top of these same lists that aren’t mentioning him now. His draft stock has the possibility of skyrocketing with another quality season at Kansas State.
Dean Wade said he is still trying to decide if he’ll enter the NBA Draft or not. Says he’s unsure of how that would go because of his injury and he has no timetable to make a set decision on whether or not he’ll try it. #KState
— Riley Gates (@Riley_Gates) April 3, 2018
The Wildcats are literally bring everyone back. Probably. There is a chance that Dean Wade decides to test the waters, which isn’t going to happen. Wade will not be drafted this season. Even Uncle Charlie doesn’t have Wade listed anywhere.
This means that the Wildcats would bring back their entire Elite Eight squad from this season. Expectations will be high for the Wildcats, meaning more National exposure and air time. If Brown has a similar season next year, he should be considered a late first round pick, in my opinion.
If Brown leaves
If Brown leaves, the Wildcats will still be a quality team, but his leadership and experience will be hard to replace, his position won’t be. The Wildcats are loaded at the guard position, and many of them made quite the impression.
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Amaad Wainright may not be back, after being arrested by U.S. Marshalls. Xavier Sneed, Kamau Stokes, Cartier Diarra and Mike McGuirl are all capable guards in his absence. The attention the Wildcats would receive would not compare with Brown gone, but they should still make noise during the 2018-19 season.