Alabama freshman forward Brandon Miller, the No. 3 prospect in ESPN’s latest mock draft, is entering the 2023 NBA draft, he told ESPN on Thursday.
Miller, a 6-foot-9 All-American considered to be the top college prospect in the draft class, has emerged shoulder-to-shoulder with G League Ignite guard Scoot Henderson to become the No. 2 pick in the June draft behind generational No. 1 pick Victor Wembanyama of France.
Miller told ESPN that that he thanked “God, my family, my fans and all the coaches at the University of Alabama,” and now planned to forgo his college eligibility.
Miller, 20, is a dynamic wing player with incredible scoring ability who had an extremely productive season for the Crimson Tide, the SEC champions who were a No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament.
He was the nation’s leading freshman scorer at 18.8 points a game, including 41 points against South Carolina in February. In the SEC tournament, he became the first freshman with consecutive 20-point, 10-rebound games in a conference tournament since Duke’s Zion Williamson in 2019.
In the NCAA tournament, Miller was slowed by a groin injury that impacted his production. Alabama lost to San Diego State in the Sweet 16.
He was accompanied to the NCAA tournament by an armed security guard because of threats directed at him after his name surfaced last month in court testimony involving the capital murder case of former Alabama player Darius Miles and another man, who are charged in the fatal shooting of 23-year-old Jamea Harris on Jan. 15.
A police officer testified that Miles texted Miller asking him to bring Miles’ gun in the early-morning hours of the shooting. Fellow freshman starter Jaden Bradley was also at the scene. Neither Miller nor Bradley has been accused of any crime, and the university has described Miller as a cooperating witness.
ESPN NBA draft analyst Jonathan Givony and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Source: www.espn.com