MEMPHIS – After just three games on the court, James Wiseman’s college basketball career is over.
The 7-foot-1, 240-pound center and likely lottery pick in next summer’s NBA draft said he has withdrawn from the University of Memphis to begin focusing on his professional future rather than complete a 12-game suspension issued by the NCAA.
The freshman who was the nation’s top prospect in the 2019 signing class announced his decision Thursday in an Instagram post, saying he was leaving school to start “preparing for the next chapter of my life.”
“Ever since I was a little kid, it’s been a dream of mine to play in the NBA,” wrote Wiseman, who is considered the potential No. 1 pick.
The decision ends Wiseman’s tumultuous time with the Tigers and his battles with the NCAA. Wiseman was the biggest prize in coach Penny Hardaway’s recruiting class that was ranked as the nation’s best, but he had been serving an NCAA suspension for most of the season.