Auburn’s Jabari Smith Undecided On Entering NBA Draft

Jabari Smith Jr. (Image: Wikimedia)

Following one of the worst showings of his career Sunday, Auburn freshman Jabari Smith says he hasn’t made up his mind about entering the 2022 NBA Draft.

The potential first pick of the draft was left stymied about his future on the heels of the two-seeded Tigers’ 79-61 second-round loss to Miami in the NCAA tournament, though his words couldn’t be more cryptic.

“I feel like if I had to make a decision 1,000 more times, I wouldn’t choose nowhere else but Auburn,” Smith said. “It was fun.”

“Was,” obviously past tense, seems to imply that the decision is made, but he never actually said so.

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If it “was” Smith’s last game at Auburn, he’ll want to forget it: he went 3-for-16 for 10 points and the team was outscored by 20 with him playing.

“I had some looks that just didn’t fall, but credit to them, just making them tough,” Smith said. “Keeping bodies on me, being physical with me, sending two people. They defended well as a team.”

“Jabari is a very talented kid, you can tell that,” Miami forward Sam Waardenburg said. “He’s a great catch-and-shoot guy, and we felt like, if we were able to get him to put the ball on the ground, we were at our best there. If he turned his back to any of us, we were going after it.”