TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (seminoles.com) – Florida State sophomore Xavier Rathan-Mayes will enter his name into the 2016 NBA Draft process, Seminole head coach Leonard Hamilton announced today.
Rathan-Mayes will not hire an agent at this time which allows him the opportunity, under the rules put in place this year by the NCAA, the NBA and the National Association of Basketball Coaches, to return to school for his junior season. Rathan-Mayes will continue to take classes throughout the process and will be academically eligible to return to Seminoles for 2016-17 season.
“Playing in the NBA is something I have thought about every day since I began bouncing a basketball,” Rathan-Mayes said. “After talking with my mom and my dad, as well as Coach Hamilton and the coaching staff at Florida State, I have decided to enter my name for the 2016 NBA Draft. We have put a great deal of thought into this decision and I am very excited about taking this step to reach my dream of playing the game that I love on the biggest stage.”
According the NCAA legislation beginning this season, a men’s basketball student-athlete may put his name into the draft, but he can remove it from the NBA draft list up to 10 days after the conclusion of the NBA draft combine in mid-May. The NBA will invite a select number of draft-eligible players to the combine, which will provide a good indicator of an underclassman’s draft potential. Following the combine, the NBA will provide specific feedback. Student-athletes may also work out for one NBA team to provide additional assessments. A student-athlete invited to the combine will be allowed to work out with his college coaches from the time he receives his invitation until he withdraws from the draft. Workouts will be kept to the in-season limit of four hours a day for up to 20 hours per week.
“We are very happy for Xavier as he looks to realize every basketball players’ dream of playing at the highest level,” Hamilton said. “We are glad that Xavier is going to take advantage of the opportunities and will support him in every way possible.”
Rathan-Mayes averaged 11.8 points per game and a team-leading 4.4 assists in helping the Seminoles to the second round of the NIT as a sophomore. He led Florida State in scoring against NCAA Tournament participants VCU and Duke as well as NIT runner-up Valparaiso in 2015. Rathan-Mayes scored 23 points in Florida State’s victory over VCU on Dec. 6, 2015 at Philips Arena in Atlanta and scored a season-high 30 points against national runner-up North Carolina on Jan. 4, 2016.
Rathan-Mayes is the only freshman in ACC history to score 30 or more points three times. He earned All-ACC Freshman, All-ACC Honorable Mention and was named to the collegeinsider.com Freshman All-American team in 2015.
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