University of Missouri guard D’Moi Hodge has announced his intentions to declare for the NBA Draft, releasing a Wednesday night statement on Twitter that read, “I would like to thank my family for their continued love and support of my goals and dreams. To Coach (Dennis) Gates and the entire Mizzou organization, what a season! I also want to thank my brothers for pushing me. With that being said, I’m officially declaring for the 2023 NBA Draft.”Â
Hodge, in his final season at the collegiate ranks, hit 100 3-point shots for Missouri, most for the program since 2018-2019. He established a new program record for steals in a season with 91. He scored 514 points, second on the team to Kobe Brown, establishing himself as a key cog for a 25-win season that reignited passion statewide for the MU program.
Another Southeastern Conference product dipping his toes into the NBA’s waters is University of Arkansas guard Anthony Black, who declared for the draft live on ESPN’s “NBA Today” program on Wednesday.
The 6’7″ Black was a second-team All-SEC selection and a member of the conference’s All-Freshman team, averaging 12.8 points per game for a Razorback team that reached the Sweet 16 in the NCAA Tournament. In his final game, Black scored 20 points in a regional semifinal loss to eventual national champion Connecticut.
From Missouri’s old stomping grounds in the Big 12 Conference, positive momentum continues into the offseason at Iowa State University, as Cyclone head coach T.J. Otzelberger received a two-year contract extension on Wednesday, keeping him in Ames through the 2028-2029 season. ISU has reached the NCAA Tournament in both of Otzelberger’s first two seasons with the program. The Cyclones have the highest-rated recruiting class in program history coming into the 2023-2024 season, rated #8 by ESPN, 9th by 247Sports, and 10th by Rivals, a group headlined by McDonald’s All-American Omaha Biliew.
