Texas Tech guard Mac McClung announced Monday that he will remain in the 2021 NBA Draft and won’t return to school after he previously left the door open for a potential return to the Red Raiders. The 6-foot-2 guard averaged 15.5 points while earning Big 12 Newcomer of the Year honors this past season. He is not listed among the top 75 NBA Draft prospects at CBS Sports.
“I would like to thank God for blessing me with the opportunity to play the game I love,” McClung wrote in a message posted to Twitter. “I also would like to thank my family and the entire Texas Tech coaching staff for believing in me and pushing me to new heights. Red Raider Nation thank you for the best year of my life. I am lucky to call myself a Red Raider. With that being said, I have decided to chase my dreams and stay in the NBA Draft.”
Getting McClung for another season would have been a nice boost for first-year Red Raiders coach Mark Adams, who was promoted to serve as head coach in early April after Chris Beard’s departure for Texas. McClung led the team in scoring during an 18-11 season, which was his first with the program.
Though just a three-star recruit out of Gate City, Virginia, in the class of 2018, McClung rose to prominence as a prospect and during his freshman season at Georgetown because of his highlight-reel athleticism. McClung averaged 13.1 points per game for the Hoyas as a freshman in the 2018-19 season and 15.7 points in the 2019-20 season before opting to transfer.
McClung’s NBA upside appears stifled by his size and the fact that he is not a natural point guard. At 6-foot-2, he’s a natural scoring guard but lacks the size to project as a versatile defender in that position.
McClung originally announced that he was entering the NBA Draft and the transfer portal simultaneously. However, he withdrew from the portal last month before ultimately announcing his decision to remain in the draft on Monday.