Onward freshman from North Carolina Day’Ron Sharpe is putting his name on the NBA’s 2021 Draft, he announced on Wednesday. Former McDonald’s All-American did not mention testing the waters, and sources close to the situation confirm to Inside Carolina that Sharpe intends to stay in the draft and does not intend to leave open the possibility of going back to school.
“I always said I wanted to go to UNC. I received a lot of offers, but I chose to wait for UNC to offer me – believe me, I don’t regret that decision,” Sharpe said in his announcement. “Last year, I met people I never thought would make such an impact on my life. My teammates and I work together, love together, laugh together, play and cry together. I love the bond we have created. I also want to thank the coaching staff for to believe that I would be a great addition to the team.
“I feel like I’m ready for the next level. I got here and there’s no reason to stop now! … This is just the beginning of a dream that I worked so hard to realize. With that said, I will be declaring for the NBA Draft with great hopes for the support of my Carolina family. Once a Tar Heel, always a Tar Heel! “
The Greenville, NC native won the All-ACC Freshman team’s honors after averaging 9.5 points and 7.6 rebounds per game. He kicked 51.9% of the ground, tied the team’s lead with 26 blocks and was arguably the best pass of the team when delivering 42 assists. Sharpe finished second, behind Scottie Barnes, from the state of Florida, in the polls for the first year of the year and the sixth man of the year at ACC.
“Day’Ron will be a fantastic professional player,” said UNC coach Roy Williams in a statement. “I loved training him. He has a tremendously high engine. He is naturally one of the biggest rebounds I have ever trained and a young man I really liked. I think in the next few years if he gets a little more disciplined, a little more focused, we will see an incredible player at a professional level, just as I think he had the chance to be an incredible player here for us. I loved coaching him and I will be rooting for him forever. “
The 6-foot, 10- and 265-pound striker provided off-the-bench energy and athleticism for Tar Heels. He led the country in percentage of offensive rebounds (0.183) and ACC in offensive rebounds per game (3.4). In ACC games, Sharpe led the conference in percentage of offensive rebounds (0.20) and came in third place in percentage of defensive rebounds (24.7). He ended the season with the highest offensive rebounds average for 40 minutes in school history (7.0), improving Kennedy Meeks’ 6.25 mark in 2016-17.
“I think his tenacity is great, his effort to try to get all the rebounds on the offensive side,” said striker Garrison Brooks last month. “He is always trying to get the ball out of the glass because it is something that he naturally has a talent for.”
Sharpe posted seven pairs and led the team with six defensive player awards. He set the highest record of his career with 25 points against Notre Dame on January 2 and took a record of his career with 16 rebounds three days later in Miami.
“He’s been phenomenal in our practices,” said Roy Williams in January. “Even in the early fall, when we were practicing and we had guys like Tyler Zeller, Tyler Hansbrough and Theo (Pinson) and Cam (Johnson) and Coby (White), these were the five guys from Team Blue one day, he was really good and everyone was tremendously impressed with Day’Ron.
“I think taking him to this level is just a testament to how he continued to work hard … And he plays so much that he makes things happen and usually makes things happen in a good way for North Carolina.”
Sharpe is ranked 33rd in the NBA Draft ranking by ESPN and represents the only UNC candidate to be drafted in the first round. His decision to enter the draft is even more significant, given Walker Kessler transfer announcement earlier this week.