UConn guard Christian Vital declared for the NBA Draft on Friday, according to a statement released by the university. Vital will not hire an agent, retaining the ability to come back to campus for his junior season.
In recent years, Rodney Purvis, Amida Brimah and Daniel Hamilton all declared early for the NBA Draft. Purvis and Brimah each returned for their senior seasons while Hamilton went pro.
Relatively new college rules benefit players like Vital, who can now work out for NBA teams and receive feedback while still holding onto his collegiate eligibility. He will have until May 30 to make a final decision.
It’s unlikely Vital will be invited to the NBA Combine next month. While he had a nice season at UConn, he’s not close to the caliber of prospect that NBA teams will be seeking to evaluate closely for one of the 60 available draft spots. Instead, Vital can benefit by attending team workouts and listening to the scouts who may consider drafting him in the future.
Vital has impressed with his toughness and work ethic during his time at UConn. He’s consistently one of the few players on the roster willing to absorb contact and get to the free throw line. He also (inexplicably) led the team in rebounding this season.
But his game has some serious flaws that need to be corrected, the most critical being his shot selection. In Kevin Ollie’s stagnant UConn offense, Vital saw his three-point percentage plummet this year, down from 36.6 percent as a freshman to 31.8 percent as a sophomore. Any hope of Vital one day having an NBA career will be dependent on him becoming a knock-down shooter. Additionally, Vital could use work on his ball-handling skills and off-ball defense.
One cool quirk to the draft rules is that, if Vital does get invited to the Combine, he would be allowed extra practice time with UConn’s coaching staff. So in addition to receiving valuable insight from NBA scouts, Vital could accelerate the process of working with Dan Hurley and his assistants, who should be eager to help turn Vital into a legitimate collegiate star.
It’s a safe bet that Vital will be wearing a UConn jersey when the Huskies begin their season in November. Hopefully this experience provides him the motivation and instruction necessary to make it a successful one.
