May 2—Two future Gonzaga players and a former one will have an opportunity to showcase their skills in front of professional scouts over the next two weeks at the NBA Draft Combine and G League Elite Camp.
Jack Kayil, a German combo guard who signed with Gonzaga last fall, was one of 73 players invited to the NBA Draft Combine, set to take place May 10-17 at Wintrust Arena and the Marriott Marquis in Chicago .
The week prior, Gonzaga standout Graham Ike will join incoming Zag guard Isiah Harwell, a transfer from Houston , at the G League Elite Camp that will also take place in Chicago from May 8-10. Ike and Harwell were two of the 44 players invited.
Players that excel during the three-day G League Elite Camp can earn invitations to the more prestigious Draft Combine the following week. Former GU point guard Ryan Nembhard parlayed a strong performance at the Elite Camp into a Combine invite just last year and eventually signed a two-way NBA contract with the Dallas Mavericks .
Players generally go through a series of measurements, agility tests, ball-handling drills and shooting stations before finishing the Draft Combine and Elite Camp with intersquad scrimmages.
It's unclear if Kayil plans to accept his invitation and participate in the Draft Combine due to scheduling conflicts with his professional club, Alba Berlin, back home in Germany.
The team's final regular-season game is set for May 10, the same day Draft Combine activities start, and Kayil would possibly have to forgo Bundesliga playoff games in Germany to participate in the Chicago-based showcase.
Kayil's had a strong season playing for Alba Berlin, but isn't a consensus choice to hear his name called in the first or second round next month, according to NBA mock drafts published in recent weeks and months.
International players such as Kayil have until June 13 to withdraw from the NBA Draft. Harwell and American college players have until May 27 to withdraw in order to preserve their eligibility.
The former top-20 prospect committed to Gonzaga roughly three weeks ago after averaging 3.6 points and two rebounds while playing 13.8 minutes as a freshman at Houston.
Draft analysts suspected Harwell might be a lottery pick candidate after his final season at Wasatch Academy in Utah, but an ACL injury ended his senior year and impacted his ability to participate in offseason workouts with Houston's program last season.
Harwell slid to the end of Houston's rotation late in the season and played seven total minutes in the NCAA Tournament before entering the transfer portal and committing to Gonzaga, one of the guard's three college finalists more than a year ago.
Ike earned an Elite Camp invite after a career season with the Zags that saw the fifth-year senior forward average 19.9 points and eight rebounds. He earned third-team All-American honors from the Associated Press and NABC and was named the West Coast Conference Player of the Year.
