Robert Woodard II Declares for 2020 NBA Draft: Projected 1st-Round Pick 'All-In'

Robert Woodard II is forgoing his final two years of college eligibility to declare for the 2020 NBA draft.  

Speaking to ESPN's Jonathan Givony, the Mississippi State guard explained that he is "all-in" despite the uncertainty around the predraft process:

"I am going in to the draft with the intention of not going back to school," Woodard said. "I am maintaining my eligibility because of the uncertainty about the dates and what workouts will look like, but I don't look it at is as testing the waters. I am all-in with this thing."

Woodard also told Givony that with basketball activities suspended due to the coronavirus pandemic, he's spent time watching film from "my own games to see what I can do to improve as well as my personal favorite, Kawhi Leonard. I like studying how efficient he is on both ends."

Prior to arriving at college two years ago, Woodard was a highly-regarded prospect coming out of Columbus High School in Mississippi. He was rated as a 4-star prospect by 247Sports composite rankings. 

During his time at Mississippi State, Woodard developed into a dynamic all-around player and has the potential to be a first-round pick. 

B/R's Jonathan Wasserman currently has Woodard ranked as the No. 35 player in this year's draft class: "Teams will just need his jumper to be legitimate given his lack of upside as a creator, plus the fact he's only taken 70 threes and shot 64.1 percent from the free-throw line."

There are reasons to be optimistic that Woodard has turned a corner on offense. The Mississippi native shot 42.9 percent from three-point range in 2019-20, a drastic improvement from his 27.3 percent success rate as a freshman. 

Woodard led the Bulldogs with 4.1 assists per game and ranked third on the team with 11.4 points per game during his sophomore season.