Tubelis enters the NBA Draft

Return to Tucson for senior year is not expected.

It appears the Azuolas Tubelis era in Arizona is over. After a productive junior campaign, in which he was named to the Wooden Award All-American Team, he told ESPN yesterday that he was entering the NBA Draft.

On paper, Tubelis had impressive numbers this past season averaging 20 points and 9 rebounds a game as an effective volume scorer. He didn’t dribble the ball a lot and was not used as an isolation-type threat, but in Tommy Lloyd’s system, he didn’t need to be.

He was in contention for Pac-12 Player of the Year and there were even rumblings at one point of him being National Player of the Year.

He is capable of shooting from the outside and his handles are underrated. If he can do these two things well he could have a future in the NBA, but right now his stock is low.

NBADraft.net has Tubelis listed as the No. 51 pick and ESPN has him at No. 68 overall.

Arizona fans will always remember his buzzer-beater against the team up North, his antelope-like quickness down the court, and his unconscious effort against Oregon when he dropped 40 on the Ducks.

This year was special for Tubelis but a return next year would have given him an opportunity to be on par with some of the greatest individual single seasons in program history.

Even though it’s a small chance, fingers crossed that he makes it back for one more season in the Old Pueblo.