Louisville basketball's Deng Adel to hire an agent, keep his name in NBA draft

Deng Adel will skip his senior year of college, hire an agent and keep his name in the NBA draft pool.

The 6-foot-7 junior wing led Louisville in scoring this past season, averaging 15 points per game for the Cardinals, but his departure comes as no surprise to the program

Adel, who was born in the Sudan and eventually settled with his family in Australia, joined classmate Ray Spalding as Louisville's early departures for the draft. The 21-year-old called it his "lifelong dream" to be a professional basketball player.

See also: Ray Spalding announces he'll leave Louisville, stay in the NBA draft pool

Background: Deng Adel leans toward entering his name into the NBA draft

"Just want to start off thanking my teammates, David Padgett, the whole basketball staff and Card Nation!" Adel said in an Instagram post announcing his plans. "The past three years have been full of surprises but to go through it with the city of Louisville and this great university has been a blessing because it shows how resilient and supporting this city is."

Adel said after Louisville's loss in the quarterfinals of the National Invitation Tournament that he would follow the path he took last year, testing the NBA draft waters before determining if he'd like to forgo his last year of school.

He did the same thing a year ago, working out for a half-dozen teams before opting to return to school with the goal of guiding Louisville to a Final Four and playing his way into the NBA draft lottery, which is the top 14 picks.

An up-and-down season ensued, dashed first by the FBI investigation that ensnared Louisville's program.

Adel scored double-digit points in all but two of the games in which he played, but he struggled with turnovers and inconsistent shooting. He made 44.8 percent from the field, including 35 percent from 3-point range. He averaged two turnovers per game.

A former five-star prospect out of Victory Rock Prep in Bradenton, Florida, Adel is not ranked among the top 100 NBA draft prospects on ESPN's board.

New Louisville coach Chris Mack said Monday he expected Adel to pursue a professional career when he took the job, so Adel's announcement felt like a formality.

Adel's guardian, Loren Jackson, told Courier Journal last week that no decisions had been made and that assuming Adel would leave was a mistake.

A wing who started playing competitive basketball at 14, Adel intrigued NBA scouts when he entered his name into the draft pool last season.

A physical small forward who weighs 200 pounds and was considered one of the strongest players on Louisville's roster, Adel finished his sophomore season strong, averaging 16.3 points and 4.2 rebounds over the final six games of that campaign.

He worked out for Chicago, the Los Angeles Lakers, Milwaukee, Oklahoma City, San Antonio and Utah, and did "quite well," former Louisville coach Rick Pitino said at the time.

Returning to Louisville for his junior season, Adel looked like he'd be one of the Cardinals' top players, and statistically he was. But the All-ACC honorable mention struggled with shot selection and defense after a strong nonconference stretch of play.

Adel will sign with Aaron Turner and Verus, who represent former U of L players Terry Rozier and Mangok Mathiang

His decision made him the third member of Louisville's highly-rated Class of 2015 signing group to leave school early, joining Spalding and Utah Jazz star Donovan Mitchell, who was Adel's roommate and best friend in college.

Jeff Greer: 502-582-4044; jgreer@courierjournal.com; Twitter: @jeffgreer_cj. Support strong local journalism by subscribing today: www.courier-journal.com/jeffg.