Henry Ellenson Declares for 2016 NBA Draft: Latest Comments and Reaction

Marquette forward Henry Ellenson declared for the NBA draft on Tuesday after his excellent freshman season.

Ellenson took to Instagram to announce his intentions:

Ellenson averaged an impressive 17.0 points, 9.7 rebounds, 1.8 assists and 1.5 blocks in 33.5 minutes per game this season.

While he couldn't lead the 20-13 Golden Eagles to the NCAA tournament during his freshman campaign, he was a finalist for the Wayman Tisdale Award given to the top freshman in college basketball (won by LSU's Ben Simmons). He was also named the Big East Freshman of the Year.

Ellenson is a guaranteed first-round pick, likely a lottery pick and should go in the top 10 of the draft. 

"I like him OK," an anonymous scout told Matt Velazquez of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. "I think he's going to be a good shooter in the NBA. The lack of athleticism scares me a little bit. He doesn't have good lateral quickness. I don't think he's the toughest guy. He's definitely going to be an NBA player, and in the right situation, I think he'll succeed."

Mike Schmitz of DraftExpress thinks Ellenson projects nicely into the modern game:

With a strong chance at being a top-10 pick, entering this year's draft was a logical move for Ellenson. He doesn't appear to be a potential franchise-changing talent like Simmons or Brandon Ingram, but Ellenson should be a solid player at the next level and has a lot of room to grow into a major contributor for a team. 

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