Georgia Basketball: Claxton Needs to return for Junior year

Georgia basketball player Nicolas Claxton declared for the draft after this season and has been interviewing with teams. However, he can still decide to come back, which he should.

Nicolas Claxton was one of Georgia basketball’s bright lights this past season. It was head coach Tom Crean’s first season at Georgia, and it wasn’t pretty. However, if it wasn’t for Claxton, it could have been a lot worse.

Claxton averaged 13 points, 8.6 rebounds, 2.53 blocks, and 1.8 assists a game this past season.

He was the consistent guy; the one people could count on in the games. Crean and his staff recently signed the No. 9 overall 2019 recruiting class, giving Claxton some help.

Yes, Claxton is in meetings with NBA scouts and coaches, he’s doing workouts with them, but he needs to evaluate and see if that’s the best option for him.

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This past week he was on hand in Chicago for the 2019 NBA Draft Combine. Ahead of the NBA Combine, he sat down with DraftExpress and discussed the process.

Now he hasn’t made the final decision on whether to stick it out with the draft or return, but Claxton has to make that decision by May 29.

In an interview with 247Sports, Claxton noted that a potential return to school has become far more attractive since he saw that recruiting class Crean’s bringing to Athens, especially with Anthony Edwards.

“I’m definitely in a win-win situation,” Claxton said to 247Sports. “There’s a great recruiting class coming in that coach Crean and his staff have got coming in, so I would love to go back and play with those guys. But also, the NBA is my dream; it’s something that I’ve been dreaming about since I was four years old. So if the situation is right for me, then I’ll keep my name in the draft.”

At the NBA Combine, he measured in at 6-11 3/4 in shoes with a 7-2 1/2 wingspan. Claxton weighed in at 216.6 pounds as well.

Claxton should come back and work on gaining some weight and improving his skills because he only has one full season under his belt. In his freshman year, he averaged 3.9 points and boards a game.

He improved drastically from his freshman to his sophomore year, so imagine how much he could improve during his junior season.

Claxton needs to return to Athens and make a run with Edwards and the rest of the team. There is so much talent heading to the Classic City, that the Bulldogs could be a sleeper this upcoming basketball season.

Come on Claxton, make the return and lead this team to something special in 2019/2020.