CHICAGO — Three Tennessee men’s basketball players will have a chance to showcase their talents this week in front of all 30 teams at the 2019 NBA Draft Combine.
Two-time SEC Player of the Year Grant Williams and the All-SEC duo of Jordan Bone and Admiral Schofield were named to the 66-player roster released by the NBA. Tennessee’s three participants are tied for the most of any program.
The NBA Draft Combine will take place Thursday and Friday at Quest Multisport in Chicago. The event allows the best draft-eligible players to participate in physical measurements, interviews, shooting, strength and agility drills and five-on-five games in front of NBA personnel. ESPN2 will provide coverage both days from 3-7 p.m. ET.
NBA coaches, general managers and scouts will be on hand to evaluate players in preparation for the annual NBA Draft, which takes place on June 20 at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, N.Y.
A consensus first-team All-American, Williams ranked among the nation’s most versatile and efficient players this year, averaging 18.8 points, 7.5 rebounds, 3.2 assists, 1.5 blocks and 1.1 steals per game. The Charlotte, N.C., native ranked in the top 10 in the SEC in scoring (1st), field-goal percentage (2nd), free-throw percentage (5th), rebounding (7th) and assist/turnover ratio (10th).
Bone set the Tennessee single-season record for assist/turnover ratio at 2.91, surpassing the previous record set in 2002-03. The Nashville, Tenn., native recorded 215 assists this season, which ranked as the third most all time in a single season by a Vol and the most ever by a junior. He averaged 13.5 points per game and ranked third in the SEC with 5.8 assists per game.
Schofield, who was one of only five seniors to be chosen for the combine, ranked fifth in the SEC in scoring (16.5 ppg) and field-goal percentage (.474). As a high-volume shooter, the Zion, Ill., native shot 50 percent or better from the floor 18 times as a senior and led the team with 74 3-pointers and a 42-percent clip from beyond the arc.
The trio helped the Vols (31-6) advance to the Sweet Sixteen and match the program record for wins in a single season and played a critical role in this year’s team setting program records for points, field goals made, assists and blocks.
A total of 46 Vols have been chosen in the NBA Draft. Most recently was Josh Richardson in the 2015 NBA Draft, when the Miami Heat took him in the second round with the 40th overall pick. The last first-round pick selected from UT was Tobias Harris in 2011, when Charlotte took him 19th overall.
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