Texas Tech's Mac McClung Declares for 2021 NBA Draft, Enters Transfer Portal

Texas Tech star Mac McClung announced Sunday he was declaring for the 2021 NBA draft while simultaneously entering the NCAA transfer portal.

College players are permitted to enter the NBA draft process and retain their NCAA eligibility as long as they do not hire any outside representation. That allows players like McClung to receive feedback from pro scouts before deciding whether to stay in the draft or return to school. Should McClung take the latter route, he will not be heading back to Lubbock.

The junior from Virginia, who began his career at Georgetown, first made a name for himself with his eye-popping in-game dunks but began rounding out his game under head coach Chris Beard as a member of the Red Raiders.

McClung averaged 15.5 points, 2.7 rebounds and 2.1 assists per game with TTU in 2020-21. With Beard leaving the program to take over for Shaka Smart at Texas, now is as good a time as any for McClung to test out his standing in the league.

It's the second time McClung has put his name in the NBA draft pool. He originally declared last season before ultimately deciding to return to college and enter the transfer portal. According to ESPN's Jonathan Givony, McClung conducted 11 interviews during the predraft process last spring before withdrawing from the class.

"Going through this process was really informative," McClung said last May. "I got a chance to speak to the decision-makers and hear what they thought about my game. They shared with me things I need to work on to be successful at the next level. I'm very optimistic about the feedback I have received and can't wait to take that knowledge to my future home."

Despite improving his offense last season, Bleacher Report's Jonathan Wasserman did not include the guard in his latest complete mock draft following the NCAA tournament.