By Associated Press
SPOKANE — Gonzaga forward Filip Petrusev has become the third Bulldog to declare for the NBA draft this year without hiring an agent.
Gonzaga’s leading scorer and the West Coast Conference player of the year, Petrusev made his announcement Sunday, the deadline for players to declare.
Wing Corey Kispert and guard Joel Ayayi previously announced they would be available for the draft. But they also did not hire agents, leaving the door open to return to the Zags next season.
Petrusev also submitted his name for the draft after his freshman season, when he played limited minutes.
“It is my dream to one day play at the highest level so I am entering the 2020 NBA draft, but I am still considering a return to Gonzaga,” Petrusev said in a news release. “There is still a lot of uncertainty with what might happen to next year’s NCAA season as well as the NBA draft, this gives me more time to evaluate that and leave all the options open.”
Petrusev, a 6-foot-11, 235-pound native of Serbia, led the Bulldogs in scoring (17.5 points per game) and rebounding (7.9 per game) last season as a sophomore. The Zags finished 31-2.
Player booked for murder
MCDONOUGH, Ga. — A Tulane University basketball player who recently declared for the NBA draft is charged with murder and other counts in a Georgia slaying.
Teshaun Hightower, who led the Green Wave in scoring last season, was booked into jail Saturday on multiple charges, including murder and aggravated assault, Henry County Jail records show.
He was one of six people wanted in connection with an April 8 homicide in Stockbridge, Ga., Henry County police said in a Facebook post Friday. Police spokesman Capt. Randy Lee told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution that the victim, Devante Anthony Long, died from gunshot wounds after he was taken to a hospital.
Jail records show that five of the six men are now in police custody, including Hightower’s brother, Jeffrey Hightower.