Daniel Gafford Declares for NBA Draft, Will Not Play in NIT

Even with the NIT selection, we’ve seen Daniel Gafford’s last game in a Razorback uniform. Mike Anderson said in his press conference today that Gafford will declare for the NBA Draft and not play in the upcoming NIT game against Providence.

Gafford will finish his Razorback career with 955 points, 494 rebounds, and 141 blocked shots. Another big time product that came from the Natural State, the El Dorado native came to the program with a lot of hype and delivered from the time he stepped on campus to his final home game.

In his freshman season, he broke out some monumental dunks, like this sequence against Vanderbilt.

Then there was this one in the SEC Tournament against Florida.

The big man was filled with highlights and could have declared for the NBA after his freshman season. He chose to stay and this year he averaged 16.9 points per game, 8.7 rebounds per game, and just over 2 blocks per game. His final game in Bud Walton has a memorable one as he took over against the Tide, scoring 29 points and getting 16 boards en route to a Razorback victory.

Anyone who saw Gafford’s talent knew he was too good to stay in Fayetteville for all four years, and it was apparent very early on in his career. Right now most mock drafts have Gafford listed as a late first round pick, which would likely put him on a very good NBA team. We want to see him have the best NBA career he can have, and can’t wait to see that first matchup against Bobby Portis.