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Poeltl entering NBA draft

Jakob Poeltl, Corbin Kaufusi

Utah’s Jakob Poeltl (AP Photo)

AP

Utah sophomore Jakob Poeltl is entering the NBA draft and hiring an agent, he announced Wednesday.

It certainly not a surprising move for the 7-footer as he’s a likely lottery pick after averaging 17.2 points, 9.1 rebounds and 1.7 blocks per game this past season. He’s largely considered the top center prospect in this year’s draft.

“I’m not sure if I want to leave — I want to do both, even though it’s not possible,” he said according to the Salt Lake Tribune. “I had such a good time here with everybody involved, that’s what made it hard on me. But at the end of the day, it was the decision I had and wanted to make to move on with my basketball career.”

The Utes will miss their foundational piece that led them to back-to-back NCAA tournaments the past two years as an All-American and Pac-12 player of the year, but Larry Krystkowiak won’t be overseeing a full-scale rebuilding project as much of last year’s core, which won 27 games and finished second in the conference, returns. Utah will also welcome top-100 center Jayce Johnson, a 6-foot-11 center from California.