Michigan State Basketball: Xavier Tillman wise to leave options open

Xavier Tillman declared for the NBA draft on Tuesday afternoon, but the Michigan State basketball star was wise to keep his options open.

Even while quarantining, Xavier Tillman had some work to do. The junior big man for the Spartans had to decide whether or not to enter his name into the NBA draft, but his decision came Tuesday and it wasn’t much of a surprise.

Tillman did what he should have done, entering his name into the draft pool and he hasn’t signed an agent, claiming he’ll be keeping his college eligibility.

Over the past couple of weeks, players have been meeting with Tom Izzo to talk about next steps and the Hall of Fame head coach likely informed Tillman that his best option would be to enter the draft and not hire an agent. Get the appropriate feedback and draft grades and if you like what you see, stay in the draft. If you don’t, come back for a senior year.

Tillman’s decision has major bearing on the Spartans’ 2020-21 season as he would be the unquestioned leader of the team as a captain and the best defender in the Big Ten, if not the country.

By leaving his options open, he gets the best of both worlds. He gets to hear what he has to get better on from NBA scouts and either get a first-round grade or return to school knowing what he needs to do in order to achieve that. He’s in a perfect spot and will benefit from this decision either way.

No, Spartan fans, he’s not a lock to stay in the draft so just because he declared doesn’t mean he’s gone. Once he hires an agent, that’ll be the end of his collegiate eligibility, but he was smart not to.