Creighton guard Ty-Shon Alexander announced on Friday that he will be declaring for the NBA draft.
He is coming off of a season where he averaged 16.9 points, 5.0 boards and 2.3 assists while shooting 40 percent from three as Creighton’s best perimeter defender. He can play on the ball or off the ball, and at 6-foot-4, he may be able to guard both backcourt positions.
Roll Jay🏀💙 pic.twitter.com/X3aOgD4j5e
— Ty-Shon Alexander (@5Tyshon) April 10, 2020
Alexander is projected anywhere from a late second round pick to undrafted, but he is expected to remain in the draft regardless of where he is projected, according to a report from Stadium. He is a player that has the potential if he can get himself into an organization on a two-way contract. Put another way, Ty-Shon Alexander declaring for the NBA draft isn’t going to mean all that much from a professional basketball perspective.
It does, however, have an enormous impact on college basketball in the 2020-21 season.
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Alexander was the best player on Creighton last season given the way he can shoot, score and defend. With him on the roster, Creighton had a chance to be a top five team. Their backcourt of Alexander, Marcus Zegarowski and Mitchell Ballock was as good as anyone’s.
But without Alexander, the Bluejays suffer a significant blow.
They’re still going to be a top 25 team, most likely. And they should still end up in the NCAA tournament.
But with Ty-Shon Alexander declaring for the NBA draft, it’s hard to see how Creighton will compete for a Big East title, which is what we all expected them to do before this decision was made. They went from being No. 4 in the NBC Sports preseason top 25 all the way down to No. 20.
That’s a big drop. It’s what happens when you lose such a good player.