University of Maryland had their season come to an end earlier than they expected but they still had a few bright spots, one in particular was freshman big man Diamond Stone.
Stone came in to Maryland as a highly touted big man coming out of Milwaukee, Wisconsin and he didn’t disappoint. Stone was projected by most as a one-and-done college player and after averaging 12.5 points and 5.4 rebounds, both second on the team during Maryland’s Sweet 16 season, he has put up some solid numbers to confirm that notion he would go in the first round. Now it appears he has possibly decided to enter the 2016 NBA Draft.
Following from Chris B Haynes of Cleveland.com.
Maryland frosh C Diamond Stone to declare for NBA Draft, league sources tell @clevelanddotcom. First-round prospect holding on hiring agent.
— Chris Haynes (@ChrisBHaynes) April 4, 2016
Jon Rothstein of CBS Sports says despite Stone not hiring an agent, he will certainly not return to Maryland.
Diamond Stone is not expected to return to Maryland despite not signing with an agent, source told @CBSSports. College career likely over.
— Jon Rothstein (@JonRothstein) April 4, 2016
But Maryland’s 247Sports channel reports Diamond Stone’s father is saying there has been no decision made on his future.
Despite a Cleveland.com report stating Maryland freshman Diamond Stone has decided to declare for the NBA Draft without hiring an agent — the latter part of which would leave a sliver of possility he could return to college — Stone’s father told IMS no decision has been made.
“I don’t know anybody in Cleveland,” Bob Stone said. “I don’t know what they’re talking about. There’s a lot of people out there who like to talk, but we haven’t told anybody anything. We’re still evaluating,” the elder Stone said.
The Stone announcement comes with a few questions around it. What exactly is he doing if he doesn’t intend on returning to school? He might be poking around at different agencies and considering the initial news came out of Cleveland and there is one big agency centered in Cleveland, the LeBron James funded Klutch Sports.
