Jakob Poeltl Declares for 2016 NBA Draft: Latest Comments and Reaction

University of Utah center Jakob Poeltl is headed to the NBA after his college career ended on a sour note. 

According to Kyle Goon of the Salt Lake Tribune, Poeltl announced on Wednesday his intention to declare for June's NBA draft. 

Poeltl made solid inroads with the Runnin' Utes as a freshman, when he averaged 9.1 rebounds and 6.8 rebounds in 23.3 minutes a night, but he exploded as one of the Pac-12's best players throughout his sophomore campaign. 

Over the course of 36 appearances, Poeltl averaged 17.2 points, 9.1 rebounds and 1.6 blocks while shooting 64.6 percent from the field. Poeltl's player efficiency rating—which already stood at an impressive 24.7 after his freshman season—rocketed up to 31.1 during the 2015-16 campaign, per Sports-Reference.com. 

Season	MPG	PPG	RPG	BPG	FG%	FT%
Freshman (2014-15)	23.3	9.1	6.8	1.9	68.1%	44.4%
Sophomore (2015-16)	30.4	17.2	9.1	1.6	64.6%	69.2%

As a result, the Austrian big man finished the regular season with the Pac-12's top PER along with its top true shooting percentage (66.6). Poeltl also recorded an offensive win shares mark of 4.9—tops among all players in the conference. 

However, his season didn't end in particularly encouraging fashion.   

After Utah got roughed up by the Oregon Ducks, 88-57, in the Pac-12 title game, Poeltl was positively dominated by Gonzaga Bulldogs big man Domantas Sabonis in second-round play at the NCAA tournament. 

While Sabonis went off for 19 points and 10 boards, Poeltl was limited to five points and four rebounds in 24 minutes of action. 

"Sabonis got the best of Jakob in this situation," Utah head coach Larry Krystkowiak said, according to the Associated Press (via USA Today). "... I think Sabonis got it going a little bit with offensive rebounding. When our bigs came to help, we didn't do a good job of boxing him out." 

The good news for Poeltl is one bad game won't define his draft stock. 

At 7'1'' and 242 pounds, per DraftExpress, the 20-year-old is an absolute load to handle in the low post—and he's just starting to expand his repertoire of moves.

"I would still say I'm dominant right hand, but I have developed a couple counters," Poeltl said, per Bleacher Report's C.J. Moore. "That's something that I probably didn't have last year. I wasn't confident with my left hook. It gives me different options."

The developmental process will be a continual one for Poeltl, who will need to adjust on the fly to playing a more uptempo style in the NBA.

And with offenses moving away from a dependence on dominant bigs in favor of more versatile perimeter-oriented players, the Austrian phenom will undoubtedly need some time to acclimate himself to a wildly different hoops environment.  

Stats courtesy of Sports-Reference.com unless noted otherwise.