Boogie Fland showed up to the NBA Combine and said, ‘Nah, I’m good.” While attending the pre-Draft event in Chicago, the former Arkansas guard officially withdrew from the NBA Draft.
The news is a bit unusual. One would think it’s safe to presume that he would at least finish going through the NBA Combine before announcing the decision. After all, you’re already there. Why go through all that trouble, just to quit halfway through?
It’s even more unusual because of the source. People forget that Mike Miller, the former Florida Gator who spent 17 years in the NBA and had a cup of coffee on Penny Hardaway’s Memphis coaching staff, is now an agent. Miller represents Fland and must have heard enough feedback from NBA scouts to realize the writing was on the wall: Fland would be better off making another year of NIL money than testing his salt in the NBA.
There’s another interesting wrinkle in this situation. The one-time Kentucky commit was the best player on the floor when healthy for the Arkansas Razorbacks. He was the straw that stirred their drink, averaging 13.5 points and 5.1 assists per game. He’s returning to college, but it probably won’t be at Arkansas.
The Razorbacks have already invested heavily in their backcourt. DJ Wagner is returning for another season, and they ponied up for a pair of five-star freshmen, Darius Acuff and Meleek Thomas. Simply put, there’s no more room at the inn.
Fland will most likely not be back at Arkansas, but he may be in the SEC. Rumors swirled a few weeks ago that he could make up to $7 million by returning to college and playing for Florida. College basketball insiders refuted that report and called it an inflated number, but there seems to be some smoke between Fland and the Gators.
This decision is another indictment of the current state of NIL’s role in basketball. In previous years, there was no chance in France that Fland would return for another year of college basketball. Now that there are large, guaranteed contracts in place for college athletes, it’s not worth the risk to jump into the NBA too soon. That reality should be good news for Kentucky fans who are awaiting decisions from Otega Oweh and Jaland Lowe.
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