Gophers star Cam Christie to test NBA Draft waters

Star Gophers freshman Cam Christie announced that he will be entering his name into the NBA Draft while maintaining his college eligibility Friday via X. After averaging 11.3 points, 3.6 rebounds and 2.2 assists in his first college season as one of the youngest players in the country, many scouts see him as a draftable prospect.

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— Cameron Christie (@24CameronC) April 12, 2024

“It has always been a dream of mine to make it to the NBA… I am grateful for this opportunity and I am eager to receive feedback from the NBA on my game… as I guy through this process, I will maintain my college eligibility.”

I have paraphrased Christie’s quote, but I think those are the most important aspects. Based on the fact that he felt the need to state that he’s eager to receive feedback from the NBA, tells me that he is entering with the mindset of still being very comfortable with a return to the Gophers. Given the fact that this is one of the weakest draft classes of all time according to scouts, this was a no-brainer decision for Christie. Gophers fans obviously want him to return, but he has a real chance of sneaking into the first round with a good pre-draft process in my opinion.

It is a huge win for Christie to simply enter his name into the Draft and not the Transfer Portal as well. From my understanding, it has always been NBA or a return to Dinkytown, but to see it confirmed by him is a major plus. I would expect this to be a long process for Christie as he gains intel from NBA teams, but June 16th is the NCAA deadline for players to withdraw from the Draft. ESPN currently doesn’t have Christie ranked in their Top 100 prospects, but The Athletic’s Sam Veceni had him as a first-round pick. This year’s draft will have a lot of different opinions and Christie’s scouting report could be all over the place.