In a surprising twist, Oregon Ducks forward Kenny Wooten indicated on Instagram that he will not return to Eugene for his junior season with Oregon and will instead keep his entry in the upcoming NBA Draft.

Wooten has until May 29th to official withdraw his name from the Draft, but his social media posts on Sunday make it seem likely that he will stay in the draft and not return to Oregon.

“I know I’ve waited a very long time to answer this question,” Wooten wrote on an Instagram story while taking a question from a follower of whether or not he would return to the Ducks.  “But I will not be coming back for year 3.”

Wooten averaged 6.3 points, 4.8 rebounds and 2.2 blocks a game during his sophomore season in 2018-19 that saw the Ducks make a thrilling run to win the Pac-12 Tournament as the number-six seed and compound that with an NCAA Tournament run as a 12-seed to the Sweet Sixteen.

Wooten is 6’9″ and 230 pounds and reporteldy wowed scouts and analysts at last week’s NBA G League Elite Camp with his vertical leap, out-performing Dwight Howard’s measurements:


Wooten likely joins Ducks teammates Bol Bol and Louis King as prospects to stay in the 2019 NBA Draft,  while guard Payton Pritchard has figured to return for his senior season, though he too entered the NBA Draft process.

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