John Shurna spent a week in the summer of 2010 playing with the NBA’s best as part of USA Basketball’s Select Team.
In 2011, the junior forward from Glen Ellyn, Ill., is trying to see whether it’s his time to join them on a more permanent basis.
Shurna declared early for the NBA draft Tuesday morning, signaling that he might forego his senior year of eligibility. However, he declined to hire an agent, which means he has until May 8 to withdraw his name and return to Northwestern.
Shurna declined to comment to The Daily, but coach Bill Carmody said in a press release he backed Shurna’s decision.
“This is an exciting opportunity for John, and I fully support his decision,” Carmody said. “It’s a chance for him to pursue his dream and we look forward to helping him gather information throughout the process.”
The Cats would have a hard time replacing Shurna, who has led the team in scoring two straight seasons, averaging 16.6 points per game and 4.9 rebounds last season.
The announcement comes as somewhat of a surprise: Although Shurna has been NU’s best player, he isn’t a lock to make it on basketball’s biggest stage.
“It’s tough to tell what type of prospect he is,” said Jonathan Givony, director of scouting for Draftexpress.com. “He would be someone that we would look at as a specialist prospect. On certain teams he could probably sit, other teams he wouldn’t.”
Givony speculates that Shurna is using the opportunity to test the waters and receive feedback on what aspects of his game need improvement. Underclassmen must declare for the draft to participate in workouts with NBA teams, where they can hear how coaches feel about their games. Shurna has nothing to lose by seeing whether NBA teams are interested, Givony said.
“Guys who haven’t tested say, ‘What the hell, why not throw my name in, get some thoughts on my draft stock, what do teams like, what don’t they like.'” Givony said. “That’s why kids like Shurna have been looking at that.”
With the prospect of an NBA lockout looming, many top prospects such as North Carolina’s Harrison Barnes, Baylor’s Perry Jones III, and Ohio State’s Jared Sullinger decided to return for another year in college, leaving the draft relatively weak – and opening up spots late in the order for players like Shurna.
However, there’s disagreement about how much of a chance Shurna has at the next level. Draftexpress.com has Shurna ranked 26th of all players in the 2011 class, which would put him as a borderline second-round selection in the 60-pick draft. However, ESPN’s Chad Ford has him ranked 127th in the same class.
The disagreement comes after a difficult-to-interpret junior season for Shurna. Although he dominated early, averaging 23.3 points per game over NU’s first 10 contests, an ankle injury in NU’s 92-61 win over Mount St. Mary’s and a concussion in an 81-70 loss to Minnesota seemed to affect his offensive ability, leading to less-than-stellar performances in Big Ten play.
“(It’s) just such a huge fluctuation,” Givony said. “There’s so many variables involved.That’s why he’s getting feedback from NBA teams to give him guidance and direction.”
Even before the injuries, Shurna was a borderline prospect. His 43 percent 3-point field-goal percentage certainly allows Shurna the possibility of being a 3-point specialist for an NBA team, but Givony cited questions about his defense. At 6-foot-8, Shurna frequently played the power forward spot for the Cats, but he would be undersized against NBA power forwards. On the other hand, if he played small forward, he’d be slower than many of the players he would be matched up against.
If Shurna makes it, he will be the first NBA player to be drafted from NU since Evan Eschmeyer’s selection in the second round of the 1999 NBA Draft.
