Amir Coffey has decided to keep himself in the NBA draft pool and forgo his senior season, delivering a big hit to Minnesota's roster for next season.
The deadline to withdraw from the draft was Wednesday night. Coffey's agent Javon Phillips told the Star Tribune on Wednesday evening, five hours before the deadline, that Coffey will stay in the pool.
After leading the Gophers to the NCAA tournament second round in March and earning All-Big Ten honors, Coffey now has his sights set on pursuing his dream of playing in the NBA. He's projected to go anywhere from the 45th pick (second round) to unselected in the June 20 draft.
Following a spring of testing the waters with NBA team workouts, the 6-8 former Hopkins standout received enough positive feedback to bypass his senior year.
The Gophers would likely have been a preseason Top 25 team with Coffey. They still return sophomores-to-be Gabe Kalscheur and Daniel Oturu, who started on a 22-win squad that beat Louisville in the NCAA tournament first round.
"The timing felt right after our successful season," Coffey wrote on social media after the Star Tribune reported April 3 that he would declare early for the draft and sign with an agent.
Gophers coach Richard Pitino said last week he only wanted "what's best for Amir" with Wednesday's decision.
"If he has an opportunity to change his life, we've got to support that," Pitino said. "That's what he's dreamed of his whole life, much like our other players. So, if [Wednesday], he does stay in, we're going to support him, we're going to root for him, we're going to hope he wears an NBA jersey."
