The Syracuse Orangemen’s star freshman point guard Tyler Ennis has announced that he will leave school and enter the 2014 NBA Draft.
“I’d like to thank Coach Boeheim, the coaching staff, my teammates and the amazing fans of Syracuse for the opportunity to play at a great university like Syracuse,” Ennis said in a released statement. “I feel this experience has helped prepare me to fulfill my lifelong dream – to play in the NBA.”
Ennis and the Orangemen were eliminated in round three of the NCAA Tournament on Sunday, in an upset lost to #11 Dayton, being the victims of this year’s biggest cinderella story of March Madness.
On the year, Ennis averaged 12.9 points per game, 5.5 assists, 3.4 rebounds, and 2.1 steals per game. He also shot 35% from three-point range. He was seen as a mature and poised point guard running his team’s offence extremely effectively.
Most draft experts see Ennis as the third best point guard in the draft behind Oklahoma State’s Marcus Smart and Australia’s Dante Exum. He should be a mid-first round pick, but could rise up the boards and be taken with a low lottery pick.
The 19-year-old from Brampton, Ontario is part of the new generation of talented young Canadian basketball players, and is supposed to be part of the Canadian team that will make waves on the international stage in the 2016 and 2020 Olympic games.
Ennis earned a number of post-season NCAA awards and nominations. He was on both the all-ACC defensive and freshmen teams.
He is also a finalist for the 2014 Wayman Tisdale freshman of the year award and the Bob Cousy award that goes to the NCAA’s top point guard. He is also one of 15 players still on the ballot for the John Wooden award for NCAA player of the year.
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