Reports: Texas F Jarrett Allen will enter 2017 NBA Draft, but won’t sign agent

The Texas Longhorns career of freshman forward Jarrett Allen could be over after only one season in burnt orange and white, as Jon Rothstein of CBS Sports reported on Tuesday that the local product will declare for the 2017 NBA Draft, but won’t retain an agent.

Multiple sources confirmed the news to ESPN’s Jeff Borzello, though the school has not done so at the time of publication.

The 6’11, 235-pounder is using his option to declare without jeopardizing his eligibility as long as he does not hire an agent and announces his intent to return to school within 10 days of the NBA Draft Combine, which takes place in Chicago between May 9-14.

A likely invite to the combine should boost his draft chances, and he also has the option of trying out once for each NBA team.

Last year, former point guard Isaiah Taylor initially declined to hire an agent, then announced his intentions to forgo his final season of eligibility by doing so.

In a deep draft this year, it’s difficult to determine where Allen could go, as he flashed enormous upside at times in averaging 13.4 point per game and 8.4 rebounds. However, he also struggled mightily at the free-throw line and didn’t show as much consistent range as expected — there is clearly a lot of room for growth with his game, in addition to the physical development that he needs to compete at a high level in the NBA.

Still, those flashes were enough to convince ESPN’s Chad Ford to rank Allen as the No. 16 player among his top-100 prospects.

The bottom line remains that talented big men like Allen are difficult to keep in school for multiple years — as the example of Myles Turner demonstrated — and if Allen receives feedback that he could go in the mid-first round, it would be impossible to fault him for leaving.