Being one of many players embroiled in the pay-to-play scandal that rocked college basketball this season, De’Anthony Melton has officially declared for the 2018 NBA Draft. With that, we break down what he has to offer on the NBA level.
After his sophomore season was taken away due to suspension as a result of his name surfacing in the FBI investigation that sent waves throughout college basketball this year, USC guard De’Anthony Melton has officially declared for the 2018 NBA Draft.
Coming off of his promising freshman campaign in 2016-17, Melton was pegged by many college basketball pundits and draft experts as a prospect capable of breaking out and boosting his draft stock based on the improvements he could theoretically show throughout the year.
Of course, those hopes were dashed before the start of the season once his name was linked to the probe the FBI undertook which uncovered that a now-former Trojan assistant coach was accepting benefits by influencing players towards agents, advisers and representatives of shoe companies.
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Following that report, the program preemptively ruled out Melton from suiting up for regular season play to avoid having to forfeit games in the future and potential bans from partaking in the NCAA Tournament.
That stepped up to USC suspending Melton for the rest of the season in January and Melton subsequently withdrew from the school in February to fully focus on following his dream of making it to the NBA.
Through all the tumultuous twists and turns he experienced over the last several months, Melton doesn’t harbor any resentment towards USC as Michael Singer of USA Today wrote last week during this year’s NBA Draft Combine:
"“I think (USC) handled it the best way they thought was possible,” Melton said. “I know they weren’t out to get me, I know that they weren’t trying to hurt me and making sure the university and everyone in it, you know, was protected first. … USC just had a lack of trust (concerning David Elliott, a close friend of the family) and they wanted to play it safe. We were already halfway through the season so they didn’t want anything else to come up.”"
While going through a situation like that took a mental toll on Melton as he talked about in that piece, he still maintains that he never took benefits or payment from the family friend mentioned or from elsewhere.
So without further ado, let’s take a closer look at De’Anthony Melton’s game, how he’s rated among draft experts and evaluate his potential fit with the Milwaukee Bucks.