Potential top-five decide Darius Acuff Jr. has made his NBA Draft intentions official.
The Arkansas guard mentioned on ESPN’s “NBA Today” on Wednesday he would enter the 2026 NBA Draft. Acuff is taken into account a surefire lottery decide and will even be the second guard taken in June.
Acuff was additionally as succesful as anybody in faculty basketball of dropping 30 factors in a given sport. He hit the 30-point mark six instances and even scored 49 factors in a 117-115 double-overtime loss at Alabama in February. Acuff was 16-of-27 from the sector in that sport and made 11-of-12 free throws.
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Acuff shot no less than 50% from the sector in every of these six 30-point video games and dropped 31 in a win over Auburn simply 4 days earlier than that loss to Alabama. Against the Tigers, Acuff was 10-of-15 from the sector. On Jan. 24, Acuff was 13-of-19 as he dropped 31 factors in a house win over LSU.
With Acuff main the best way, Arkansas completed 28-9 total and was second within the SEC at 13-5. The Razorbacks have been a No. 4 seed within the NCAA match and misplaced 109-88 within the Sweet 16 to No. 1 Arizona.
In Yahoo Sports’ latest mock draft on Wednesday morning, Kevin O’Connor had Acuff going seventh total to the Brooklyn Nets. Here’s what O’Connor wrote about him.
Acuff is a wiry scorer who can get a bucket from anyplace on the ground with a fast set off, slippery deal with, and a really feel for manipulating defenses. He can even thrive off-ball as a shooter and cutter, which might be very important for a Nets roster already filled with ball-handlers. Acuff would have the best upside of all of them, although. He entered faculty with a scoring repute, however has emerged as a talented, low-turnover playmaker; he seems like a future All-Star who can toggle between a score-first or pass-first method. Plus, he shows management qualities. The Nets are nonetheless badly in want of a lead canine. Acuff could possibly be that man.
Acuff got here to Arkansas as a five-star recruit and the No. 9 player in the country. He was the No. 3 prospect within the state of Florida — he performed his highschool basketball at IMG Academy — and was the No. 2 level guard behind fellow 2026 NBA Draft entrant Mikel Brown Jr.