Oral Roberts sophomore Max Abmas is entering the NBA draft, but will preserve his college eligibility and keep the option to return to school, ” he told ESPN Sunday.
I’m hoping to work my way to the first round or find some type of contract to help me determine whether to remain in.”
“For me personally visiting Oral Roberts — I’ve seen players like Steph Curry and Damian Lillard who travelled to mid-majors and demonstrated you can make it from those colleges as well. I made a decision to control what I can control and let the rest play out. It came a whole lot quicker than I expected.”
Abmas is intriguing to NBA teams due to his mix of shot-making, quickness, feel for the sport, unflappable demeanor and childhood. Making almost four 3-pointers per game while converting 43 percent of his efforts, Abmas’ ability to pull up off the dribble instantly upon crossing half court made him among the most entertaining and hard players to defend in the college game. After playing mostly off the ball as a freshman, Abmas successfully transitioned to the point guard position for a sophomore, revealing polished ballhandling ability with outstanding court vision and creativity changing speeds out of pick-and-rolls, drawing some comparisons to Trae Young with his type of play.
Now standing 6 feet in shoes and 165 pounds, Abmas says he’s grown”a few inches” since arriving on campus.
“I believe people overlooked me coming out of high school. Coaches saw me a lot, but all I ever heard about was my own dimensions. The whole team at ORU fell in love with me. It was only about finding the perfect fit for me. I couldn’t control which colleges recruited me. The only thing I could control was my capacity to work to improve my weaknesses.”
“Going into the summer after my freshman season I knew we had been losing a great deal of senior leadership. I wanted to take another step and move on the ball. For me to play at the NBA I understood that is something that I had to show. I spent the whole summer working on my ballhandling skill and digging pick-and-rolls. I’ve always had a sense of the sport, but moving on the ball made me comfortable. The game slowed down for me personally. With the freedom I have at Oral Roberts opened up the game for me a whole lot more.”