Duane Washington Jr. Surprisingly Declares for NBA Draft, Ends Buckeyes Career

Just four days after the conclusion of the college basketball season, Duane Washington Jr. declared for the NBA Draft.

It felt like a foregone conclusion that Washington would return to Columbus to exact revenge on what was a sour end to the season. Then today, the shocking news was reported by Stadium’s Jeff Goodman, that Washington would not be removing his name from the NBA Draft.

All I have to say is WOW!

I was quite concerned that EJ Liddell would stay in the draft as he would most definitely have been taken by some NBA team. With Washington, I can’t really say that. He seemed to impress scouts during the G-League Elite Camp, earning a ticket to the NBA Draft Combine, but most scouts still don’t have him in their top-100 prospects.

It’s hard for me to say that someone should turn down millions of dollars to play at the next level, but I don’t think Washington will be making the big bucks in the United States.

Duane doesn’t really fit into much of a role in the modern NBA. Standing at a smidge under 6-foot-3, he would be vastly undersized at shooting guard, and he doesn’t have the playmaking skills to run point guard at the NBA level.

Luckily for Ohio State, it seems that Lidell will be back next season. He was seen practicing with the team this week but still hasn’t taken his name out of the draft. Once he guarantees his return to Columbus, we can turn off the panic button.

For Washington, I hope he proves me wrong and churns out a long and successful NBA career. I think another year in college would have been very beneficial to his draft stock, but maybe he knows something that all these scouts don’t.