LUBBOCK, Texas — Jahmi’us Ramsey is officially declaring for the NBA Draft, he announced on his Twitter page Saturday.
Ramsey said in his Tweet that he will be preserving his college eligibility, giving himself the option to drop out of the draft and return to Texas Tech for next season.
In his only season at Texas Tech, Ramsey averaged 15 points per game and shot 42.6 percent from 3-point range. He was also named the Big 12’s Freshman of the Year.
Ramsey is currently projected to go towards the end of the first round of the draft. If he does go in the first round, Texas Tech will have had a player taken in the first round of the past three NBA drafts.
Jarrett Culver went sixth to the Timberwolves last year and Zhaire Smith went 16th to the Philadelphia 76ers in 2018. Both players were involved in draft day trades.
Read the full news release from Texas Tech below about Ramsey’s declaration.
LUBBOCK, Texas – Texas Tech freshman Jahmi’us Ramsey has announced his entrance into the 2020 NBA Draft without the representation of an agent which reserves his option to return. Ramsey submitted his paperwork to the NBA on Saturday after a season where he led the Red Raiders with 15.0 points per game.
The Arlington, Texas native earned Big 12 Freshman of the Year, All-Big 12 Second Team, NABC All-District First Team, Big 12 All-Newcomer Team, Big 12 All-Freshman Team and was a three-time Big 12 Newcomer of the Week selection. Ramsey, who is the first Red Raider to earn Big 12 Freshman of the Year, finished the season fifth in the Big 12 in scoring and was second with a 42.6 percentage on 3-pointers and fifth with a 44.2 shooting percentage.
An explosive and consistent guard for the Red Raiders throughout the 2019-20 season, Ramsey scored in double figures in 21 of 27 games played including scoring 20 or more in seven games. He recorded his career-high with 27 points against Long Island in non-conference play before dropping 26 at Kansas where he was 5-for-6 on 3-pointers at Allen Field House. Ramsey completed the season going 60-for-141 (42.6 percent) from beyond the arc and with four games with five 3-pointers and 10 games with three or more.
He is only the third freshman in Texas Tech history to lead the team in scoring for a season and also topped the Red Raiders with 1.3 steals per game. Ramsey had a career-high seven assists at Iowa State to go along with 25 points against the Cyclones and recorded five or more rebounds in 13 games. He had a career-high nine rebounds against Bethune-Cookman in the second game of his collegiate career and followed it by scoring 25 points against Houston Baptist. In his career-high scoring performance, Ramsey was 5-for-6 on 3-pointers and also had six rebounds against LIU. He finished the conference season averaging 14.5 points and 3.6 rebounds per Big 12 game.
Ramsey joins Jarrett Culver and Zhaire Smith who declared for the NBA Draft as Red Raider underclassmen in the past three seasons under head coach Chris Beard. Smith entered the draft after his freshman season (2017-18) and was selected No. 16 followed by Culver who left Texas Tech following his sophomore season (2018-19). Culver was picked at No. 6 by Phoenix before a draft-night trade that sent him to Minnesota where he is averaging 9.2 points, 3.4 rebounds and 1.7 assists through 63 games. Texas Tech has had 24 players selected in the NBA Draft in program history, including first-round selections of Smith (16), Culver (6) and Tony Battie who was taken at No. 5 in the 1997 draft by Denver.
The 2020 NBA Draft is currently scheduled for Thursday, June 25 at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York and will be broadcasted on ESPN. NCAA legislation allows Ramsey and other players to test the draft process and either stay in the draft or return to college. The deadline for underclassmen to withdraw their name from the draft is currently on June 3.
