There is a drama surrounding the future of South Carolina basketball player AJ Lawson in Colombia.
Monday evening, basketball expert Jon Rothstein reported that rising junior AJ Lawson made the decision to remove his name from the NBA draft and go back to the University of South Carolina.
There have, however, been some recent reports that contradict Rothstein’s announcement, saying that the guard’s status has not yet changed. Lawson has until August 3 or 10 days after the NBA draft to make a final decision.
In fact, a Post and Courier report mentioned that the newspaper had contacted technician Frank Martin regarding Rothstein’s report, and that technician Martin confirmed that Lawson’s status still remains the same. He says he “has no idea where this came from” and that he knows it did not come “from AJ, his family or me”.
Other Adam Zagoria report mentioned that Lawson’s father says AJ “is still in the draft”.
As of now, many believe that the Toronto native will finally decide to return to Columbia, especially with the Coronavirus ending NBA training personally for eligible players. Things can change, however, as the NBA plans to start the competition later in 2020. If players can participate in a combination and meet individually with the front offices, Lawson will certainly have a chance to find a good fit, which means that there is no real downside to leaving your name in the pool.
Martin mentioned Lawson’s intention to join his teammates in late June, when the Gamecock basketball team returns to campus.
If Lawson returned, he would immediately make Gamecocks a general candidate for the NCAA Tournament and a legitimate candidate in the SEC race. He was the team’s top scorer a year ago, averaging 13.4 points per game and shooting over 41% of the field. It would also mean that the team returns eight of its top ten players, in terms of minutes per game, from the 18-13 result last season.
This is the first real drama to take place in Lawson’s recruiting process, which has been quite quiet since he stated this in April. This is his second attempt, as he stated without hiring an agent after his freshman campaign. We should get clarification on Lawson’s plan in the coming months, but for now, the saga continues.