Sophomore forward Jordan Poole is entering the NBA Draft process with a high level of confidence in himself.
After scoring 705 points in his first two seasons at Michigan and shooting 37 percent from three, Poole said he couldn’t pass up the opportunity to go through with the NBA process so that he could have all the options on the table for his future.
Poole can keep his name in the NBA Draft or after going through workouts, can come back to Michigan for his junior season. For him, the decision isn’t about a guarantee from an NBA team or hearing from teams that he could be a first-round selection.
“I think I’m just focused on being able to just be working out and working on myself, putting myself in a situation where I’m confident enough to either stay or come back,” Poole said Wednesday. “It’s not a matter of rounds or situation. It’s just me going back to just working on my individual game and then I would be able to tell if I’m comfortable enough going or I’m coming back.”
While not the sole determinant of his decision, Poole will still take into consideration what the NBA teams tell him and the feedback he receives from scouts.
Poole has not made any final decisions yet regarding his future and does not have a timetable set on when he will make it. He has not signed with an agent yet but said he probably will.
“I kind of really started thinking about it after the season, not really during the season or anything,” he said. “Me and my parents talked about it obviously.”
Michigan head coach John Beilein met with Poole after the season and Poole described their meeting as one of the best ones that they’ve had.
Poole said Beilein had simple advice for him regarding the NBA.
“He said, ‘Go in. Test it. Listen to the feedback.’’ he said. “Obviously, he knows it’s a dream every kid wants to be in this situation. He’s pretty knowledgeable.”
The next steps for Poole are less certain. He said he doesn’t have any concrete plans for where he’s going to be working out or specifics on his potential meetings with NBA teams. Instead of worrying about all the details, he’s focused on getting himself better.
“Just going with the wave," he said. “My parents are doing a really good job of handling all that right now. Just putting me in a position where I can just work out and better my game.”
What he is sure about is that in the next few weeks, he will be lifting a lot and trying to get his body in a good spot to withstand the grind of the workouts with NBA teams.
For Poole there are just a few areas of his game he wishes he would’ve been able to show off for NBA teams this past season.
“I definitely would like to be in situation where I was able to come off more ball screens, have the ball in my hand more,” he said. “But I think that ten game stretch that I had from December to January, I think I really showed a lot in all aspects of my game too. I felt that definitely is what put me on the map, and I was able to show everything within those ten games.”
Over the course of his sophomore season, Poole had ups and downs, but for him that’s behind him. Right now, all he can focus on is getting himself ready to make a good impression for NBA teams.
“You want to go in with a high sense of confidence, of course,” Poole added. “You want to go in and put yourself in the best position possible.”
---
• Talk about this article inside The Fort
• Subscribe to our podcast on iTunes
• Learn more about our print and digital publication, The Wolverine
• Follow us on Twitter: @TheWolverineMag, @BSB_Wolverine, @JB_ Wolverine, @AustinFox42, @Balas_Wolverine, @DrewCHallett and @Qb9Adam.
• Like us on Facebook
