Tennessee wing Yves Pons has declared for the NBA Draft.

The 6-foot-6, 215-pound Pons is coming off a breakout junior season, winning the SEC’s Defensive Player of the Year award after blocking 73 shots.

Pons will retain his college eligibility, giving him the option to return to Tennessee based on feedback he receives from NBA teams.



“Yes, definitely,” Pons told a French reporter in a video posted on Twitter Saturday. “It’s possible for me to keep my college eligibility and come back, so that’s what I’m gonna do.”



College basketball players can go through the pre-draft process, gather feedback and still retain college eligibility given they either don’t hire an agent or hire an NCAA-certified agent.



Most recently, former Tennessee wing Admiral Schofield went through the draft process following the 2017-18 season before deciding to return to school.

Grant Williams and Jordan Bone went through the draft process last spring and ended up staying there, with Williams drafted 22nd overall by the Boston Celtics, ahed of Bone going 57th and landing with the Detroit Pistons.

Pons averaged 10.8 points and 5.4 rebounds while starting all 31 games, averaging 33.9 minutes per game.

“His ability to compete, play hard every possession, every night, that’s a talent,” Tennessee associate head coach Michael Schwartz told GoVols247 last month. “We always knew he had that in him. He’s a warrior, he really is.”

“He changes shots, he guards every position on the floor, he’s really a game-changer on the defensive end.”

He tied a single-season Tennessee record with his 73 blocks, including at least one in all 31 games.

“He should really have a goal to be the best defensive player in the country (next season),” Schwartz said. “That’s what his goal should be. And you know what, his whole mindset is built around that. He wants that challenge and I think he’ll be hungry for that.”

Last season Pons became a presence on the offensive end by shooting .349 percent (30-86) from the 3-point line and .489 percent (131-268) from the field. He averaged 2.2 points and 1.8 rebounds in limited minutes as a sophomore during the 2017-18 season, after averaging just 0.7 points and 0.6 rebounds as a freshman.

“When he made the switch to that four spot this year, that perimeter four, whatever you want to call it,” Schwartz said, “he made a lot of progress in a short time ... we felt very confident throwing him the ball (in the post) this year and he developed that turnaround jump shot.”

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Only Jordan Bowden (49) and Santiago Vescovi (36) made more shots from the 3-point line than Pons. Only Josiah-Jordan James (.367) and Vescovi (.360) shot a better percentage from deep.

“He has worked really hard to be able to shoot the ball from behind the arc with consistency," Schwartz said. "It started to show this year. He had some games where he looked like he could be a 40-percent-plus shooter.”