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Here's a bit of a change that should be welcome news for Indiana basketball fans. After the first day of workouts concluded at the NBA Combine in Chicago, Troy Williams said he's still '50-50' on whether or not to enter the NBA Draft and will decide next week whether or not to return to Indiana.
IU's Troy Williams said he has workouts scheduled with Pacers, Lakes and Clippers. Still "50-50" on whether he stays in draft.
— Nathan Baird (@nbairdjc) May 12, 2016
It's a big change in the tea leaves from last week, when AllHoosiers.com's Justin Albers reported that Williams had made up his mind on leaving Indiana and staying in the NBA Draft. Tom Crean then echoed those sentiments later on in the week at a speaking engagement in Elkhart, stating he thought Williams -- who graduated last weekend -- would stay in the draft. Of course, the night before Albers' initial report, Williams fired off this somewhat-cryptic tweet, if you're into deep-readings of tweets sent by college kids on the weekend.
Everybody thinks they know everything.. Keep them guessing
— Troy Williams (@troywilliams_) May 5, 2016
His comments are likely unrelated as it's doubtful that he'd had any chance to get any feedback on his performance, but Williams didn't have the best opening day at the NBA Combine, per some in attendance. His arm length measurements and vertical came in on the lower side of what some might expect for an athlete of Williams' caliber, and his play in 5-on-5 action might not have been one of his better showings.
#NBACombine game 2 prospects who need to have better showings tomorrow: Troy Williams, Malik Newman, Melo Trimble Isaiah Whitehead Josh Hart
— Jonathan Givony (@DraftExpress) May 12, 2016
I’ve been sitting in the stands for two minutes after media stuff, and Troy Williams has already gone full Troy Williams.
— Sam Vecenie (@Sam_Vecenie) May 12, 2016
If he stays in the draft, he's projected by most NBA draft experts as a late second-round or undrafted prospect. If he returns to Indiana, he would possibly make the Hoosiers a consensus Top 10 team to start the season in 2016-17.
Of course, even if things didn't work out perfectly with his draft stock -- he'd still be getting paid somewhat well to play basketball somewhere next season if he doesn't return to Indiana. Any decision he makes next week will probably be a good one for him, so don't be a bad twitter user and send dumb tweets to a kid in the middle of a huge life crossroads.