Word Of God's John Wall puts up a shot against St. Raymonds during the third day of the GlaxoSmithKline Holiday Invitational Tournament at Broughton High School Monday, December 29, 2008. Photo by Jeffrey A. Camarati
Apr 16, 2009
Word of God’s John Wall isn’t planning to try to go directly to the NBA, according to USA Today.
"I've never considered it, never thought about it,” Wall said in Thursday’s editions of the newspaper. “You don't have to worry about me not going to college. I promised my mom and my dad, before he died, that I wouldn't go from high school to the NBA.”
The 6-foot-4, 175-pound point guard has been heavily recruited by some of the nations premiere programs.
Wall currently holds offers from Baylor, Duke, Kansas, Kentucky, Memphis, Miami, N.C. State and Oregon. Florida and North Carolina have also showed increasing interest in recent weeks, but Wall does not have an official offer from either school, according to Scout.com.
ESPN's Chad Ford wrote online Tuesday that Wall could apply for the Draft. "I was kind of shocked," Wall said to USA Today about the report.
Because of the wording of the NBA's collective bargaining agreement, Wall's case would have to be looked into. Wall is 19-years-old, and his original graduating class is one-year removed from high school.
Wall began his high school career at Garner High School before transferring to Broughton High School. After being removed from the team at Broughton, Wall transferred to Word of God Christian Academy where he reclassified. Had he stayed in public school, Wall would have graduated last year.
In an e-mail to USA Today, NBA spokesman Tim Frank said the NBA would do its "due diligence" to determine Wall's eligibility if he applied for the Draft.
Wall is one of the few top prospects in the Class of 2009 that has not made a decision about college. The late signing period began on Wednesday and will end on May 20.
Wall is in New York City this week for the Jordan Brand Classic.
This story is closed for comments.
