St. Mary’s point guard Patty Mills said he’s skipping his final two years of college eligibility and keeping his name in the NBA Draft. The 6-foot, 175-pound Australian Olympic star averaged career highs of 18.7 points, 4.0 assists, 2.6 rebounds and 2.5 steals per game during his sophomore season with the Gaels.
According to the Associated Press, Mills was one of 12 players to work out for 21 NBA teams in two separate sessions Monday at the Golden State Warriors’ practice facility. The guard, who’s projected as a late first-round pick, wore Golden State practice gear to the workout – perhaps encouraging the Warriors to select him. Golden State has the No. 7 pick in the June 25 draft.
Mills said he was committed to remaining in the draft because NBA teams did not tell him to go back to school for another year. He must have received another confidence boost after chatting with Kobe Bryant, whom he went up against in the quarterfinals of the 2008 Olympics and spoke to recently, according to the Associated Press. Mills scored 20 points in that game.
“I still act like a small kid and get excited,” Mills said of talking to Bryant. “He said, ‘Look, believe in yourself. You showed it against us in the summer.’ … Obviously my Olympic campaign helped me a lot last summer.”
