TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — As Alabama basketball prepares to bring in its highest-rated recruiting class in school history next season, there is a possibility the Crimson Tide will be without its best player from last year.
Alabama freshman forward Braxton Key will declare for the 2017 NBA Draft, head coach Avery Johnson announced on Monday. However, Key will not hire an agent, keeping open the possibility of a return next season depending on his draft stock. He has until May 24 to remove his name from the draft if he elects to return to Alabama.
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“First of all I want to thank the Alabama fans for supporting me throughout the season despite the ups and downs,” Key wrote in a post on his Twitter account. “Secondly, I want to thank my friends and family for being a backbone. Lastly, most importantly I want to thank Coach Avery, the coaching staff and my teammates for pushing me, I wouldn’t be the player I am without you.
“After much thought and consideration, I have decided to test the waters and declare for the NBA 2017 Draft without signing an agent. I am excited to see what my future holds. No matter what happens, all of the glory goes to God.”
Following Alabama's end of the season awards banquet, Johnson said he has been talking with Key about the decision for the past three weeks. The head coach said Key has gone through an evaluation process and has received advice from different committees on the decision.
“It's no surprise to me,” Johnson said. “We just want whatever's best for Braxton and his family. Now that he's in that process, the next step is going to be how many workouts he can get with NBA teams, is he's going to get selected to go to Chicago for the pre-draft camp, and then at some point later in May he'll have to make the best decision for him in terms of whether he wants to stay in the draft.”
While Johnson said he is hoping for Key to return to Alabama next season, he said he advised him to make the best decision for himself moving forward.
“I think it'd be very hypocritical of me to tell a kid to not declare for the draft or you're making a bad decision, especially as somebody that's had a long history in the NBA,” Johnson said. “I think what I advise him to do is to get all the facts. Let's do all of the research, and let's get feedback on if you're going to get drafted and if you are, where you're going to get drafted. So the main thing for me is to just be a resource and provide all of the information so that their families can make the best decision for themselves.”
Last season, Key was selected to the SEC All-Freshman team after leading the Tide in scoring (12.0 ppg), minutes (29.8) per game and double-figure scoring games (20). In addition, he ranked second on the team in assists (2.5 apg) and rebounding (5.7 rpg).
In SEC play, he ranked No. 17 in the league with 14 points per game and 14th with 6.1 rebounds per game. He scored a season-high 26 points during an 80-60 win at Georgia on Jan. 25.
“I actually talked to him earlier today,” Alabama guard Dazon Ingram said. “I was really supportive. I wish him nothing but the best, but it'd be nice if he would come back next year and play with me again.”
Key is a former four-star recruit and was rated as the No. 64 player overall in the 2016 class. If he elects to stay with Alabama next season, he will be joined by this year's No. 4 recruiting class in the nation, which features No. 7 overall recruit Collin Sexton and No. 25 overall recruit John Petty.
