Western Michigan junior guard Thomas Wilder has formally decided to forego his senior season and enter his name in the NBA Draft. Wilder however will not hire an agent right now.
Wilder will not hire agent, retaining amateur status for option to return to WMU for senior season if he chooses. https://t.co/0MBk57tOIa
— Western Michigan Men's Basketball (@WMUMBB) March 21, 2017
Wilder this season led the Broncos in scoring for a second consecutive season, averaging 19.3 points per game, which was good for 4th in the Mid-American Conference. The junior out of Montgomery, Illinois was even more prolific in league games, averaging better than 20 points per game against conference foes each of the last two seasons.
Wilder also finished 4th in the MAC in free throw shooting at 83.2 percent and was second to none in the league in three-point shooting (44.4 percent). He earned All-MAC honors for a second straight year, being named to first-team this season.
Wilder becomes the latest beneficiary of a rule passed by the NCAA in January of 2016, where college basketball players declaring for the NBA Draft are permitted to remove their name from draft consideration from the time they declare up until ten days after the NBA Draft Scouting Combine. This allows for players to receive as much feedback and evaluation from NBA scouts and executives as possible and come to a concrete decision.
And because Wilder has not officially hired an agent yet, he is allowed to take his name off the ballot whenever he pleases, if he chooses to do so. The Combine this years from May 9-14, so players who have entered their name into the Draft would have until May 24 if they want to pull out and, in Wilder’s and many player’s cases, return to school.
Wilder becomes the second Division I player from the state of Michigan to declare for the NBA Draft. Central Michigan guard Marcus Keene, who led the nation in scoring averaging better than 30 PPG (he first D-I player to do so in 20 years), reportedly has declared for the Draft as well.
