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Georgetown center Jessie Govan has withdrawn from the NBA Draft and will return to Georgetown for his senior season.
Govan declared for the Draft without hiring an agent on April 11th and had reported workouts with the Knicks and Celtics earlier this month.
From an NBA Draft piece in The Athletic:
4. Jessie Govan, center, 6-10, 270, Georgetown, Junior
Govan, a Queens Village native, was a former Jordan Brand Classic Regional Game participant who made big strides in his junior season at Georgetown. He improved his scoring by seven points per game (10.1 to 17.9) and doubled his rebounding (5.0 to 10.0) from his sophomore to junior season.
“I think he should go back,” an Eastern Conference general manager told The Athletic. “He really improved under Patrick Ewing. I don’t know if he gets drafted. Go back another year under the tutelage of Patrick and see if he can continue to improve his game.”
Ewing has worked with Yao Ming, Dwight Howard and other star NBA centers. Govan has the potential to be a rotational big man in the league, according to one general manager.
“Govan is a new age frontcourt guy who passes and shoots,” a Western Conference general manager told The Athletic. “He may be a second rounder.”
Of the five NBA personnel members polled for this story, one said he should remain in the draft, three said he should return to school, and one was undecided.
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Govan is likely to be a preseason 1st Team All-BIG EAST selection and his return is obviously great news for the Hoyas in Patrick Ewing’s second season. Georgetown lost point guards Trey Dickerson and Jonathan Mulmore to graduation and power forward Marcus Derrickson to the Draft, but will add sharpshooting wing Greg Malinowski and an impressive freshman class that includes 4-star point guard James Akinjo, 4-star forward Josh LeBlanc, 3-star forward Grayson Carter, and 3-star dunktastic guard Mac McClung. Georgetown also secured the transfer of NC State center Omer Yurtseven, though he isn’t expected to be eligible to play until 2019-20.
Welcome back, Jessie Govan!