Brigham Young forward Gideon George (5) shoots a 3-pointer as Brigham Young Cougars plays Northern Iowa Panthers in a NIT game at the Marriott Center in Provo on Saturday, March 19, 2022. BYU won 90-71. (Mengshin Lin, Deseret News)
Estimated read time: 6-7 minutes
PROVO — Gideon George took what may be viewed as a surprising step forward in his basketball development Friday.
He declared for the NBA draft.
The 6-foot-6, 210-pound BYU wing from Minna, Nigeria, declared for the draft while also maintaining his collegiate eligibility — one more year due to the COVID-19 relief provided by the NCAA — with a series of posts on social media.
“Today, I am taking the next step towards realizing my dream, and will be declaring for the NBA draft,” George said. “Throughout this process I will be maintaining my college eligibility.
“I look forward with open eyes and an open heart for what God has in store for me next.”
The news may surprise some BYU fans, as a super senior-to-be expected to play a big role with the Cougars in 2022-23 — and what will be BYU’s last in the West Coast Conference before joining the Big 12 next July.
But perhaps it shouldn’t surprise anyone who has followed the Nigerian who started 18 of 33 games a year ago and averaged 8.8 points, 5.0 rebounds and 1.2 assists per game while shooting 43.6% from the field and 34.9% from 3-point range, though most of them came late in the season and during the Cougars’ NIT run.
George’s NBA excursion is a mission of fact-finding, first and foremost; players with remaining eligibility have until April 24 to declare for the draft, and until June 1 to withdraw while maintaining any college eligibility they may have.
So George isn’t necessarily gone from BYU, but the next steps are important for a junior college product who has the tangible abilities that many NBA teams seek — a big body, a wide wingspan, and the ability to guard multiple positions — as a “three-and-D” guy.
“For somebody who almost took no 3s at New Mexico to the way he was shooting at the end of this last season, you see things start to click,” said Verbal Commits’ Brandon Goble, who helped George come to the United States via his organization JUCO Advocate. “If Gideon had been playing organized basketball since he was 6 years old, that’s something. But he’s been playing for four years. It’s a different level of advancement every time he figures something out.
“He’s adding pieces to his game that are going to allow him to score more fluidly, under more control, take better shots, open everything up and really understand how to play. He has so many things you can’t teach that once he gets the ‘how,’ it’s over.”
If George returns to BYU basketball, he will be the senior nucleus of a team losing two key leaders in Alex Barcello and Te’Jon Lucas, as well as post players Gavin Baxter and Richard Harward.
The Cougars signed a group of soon-to-be returning missionaries that could replace some of the offensive output, namely former Fremont star Dallin Hall and Wasatch Academy shooting guard Richie Saunders. But George, along with senior-to-be Spencer Johnson and junior-to-be Caleb Lohner (among others), will provide the experienced backbone of a team otherwise dependent on the further maturation of sophomore-to-be posts Fousseyni Traore and Atiki Ally Atiki.
Watching the development of those two players from West Africa, in addition to Gideon, who shot 59% from the field as a freshman at New Mexico Junior College while attempting just 22 total 3-pointers, should offer some hint at the potential development George can expect with one more year under BYU coach Mark Pope, to say nothing of assistants Chris Burgess, Cody Fueger and Nick Robison.
“Part of it is his natural God-given abilities, but the development of the staff at BYU has been second to none,” Goble said in an interview with ESPN 960. “Fans really have to look at the context of what that staff has done with somebody like Gideon, Fouss, Atiki and others to fully understand it.”
George’s announcement also made no mention of entering the transfer portal, which is a good thing for BYU. Either he’s prepared to turn pro, which he will learn in the coming weeks, or he’s likely to return to Provo for one final season of pre-professional development.
With a lineup that recently saw former Timpview standouts Hunter Erickson and Nate Hansen enter the portal, as well as walk-on Jeremy DowDell, the Cougars were already losing players to the portal.
That’s no surprise; Goble estimates close to 1,100 players have opted to submit their names as available transfers around the country. That’s an increase from last year, when hundreds of players opted to use their extra season of eligibility at a new landing spot.
But unlike a year ago, teams don’t have the roster flexibility provided by COVID-19 relief. Instead of “free roster spots” provided by the pandemic, teams are once again limited to 13 players on a roster. Barcello, for example, did not count against the Cougars’ scholarship count, nor did any “COVID senior” who took another season in college.
That won’t be the case going forward. And it could lead to several players among the 350-plus Division I programs either transferring down a level, to Division II, NAIA or even junior colleges, for those who still have freshman or sophomore eligibility. Some may be giving up on the collegiate game entirely, though.
“There’s going to be a lot of unfortunate ends to careers,” Goble said. “Obviously the D2s, the NAIAs, the JUCOs will feast on this and offer some people who thought their 10 points per game at a major school would wind up a level. Some kids who thought they could go up will have to go down to a D2 And there will be some kids who just refuse to do that.
“By the time they figure out they are running out of options, it may be too late at that level. It all trickles down.”
Like most schools, BYU will also scour the portal, looking primarily for a playmaking point guard (the Cougars recently targeted former Wasatch Academy guard Mike Saunders Jr., who made the move from Cincinnati to Utah) and a change-up big man that offers something different from Traore and Atiki, two developmental bigs who blossomed in their first season of college basketball.
Most of those transfers will probably have multiple years of eligibility, though, so that they can recruit to the Big 12 in 2023.
“The main thing right now is going to be some longer-term answers at the guard position,” Goble said. “It’s a different level in the Big 12, when it comes to length and strength.
“They’re recruiting in a different pool now.”
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Sean Walker graduated from Syracuse University and returned to his home state to work for KSL.com covering BYU, prep sports and anything else his editors assign him to do. When he’s not covering a game, he’s usually listening to Broadway soundtracks or hiking with his dog.
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