UNLV's Chris Obekpa declares for NBA Draft, has option to return

UNLV is losing players left and right to transfer and the NBA Draft and the fourth Rebel to declare for the draft to do so is forward Chris Obekpa, according to ESPN's Jeff Goodman. Obekpa did not hire an agent so he has until May 25 to return to UNLV.

He also has not played a single minute for the UNLV basketball team as he transferred from St. John's last summer and he had to sit out due to NCAA transfer rules. If he decides to come back to college he will still have one year of eligibility left.

While at St. John's he was a defensive force and started 24 games in his final year with the Red Storm. The 6-foot-10 big man registered 3.1 blocks per game which was good enough to be fifth best in the country. His block percentage of 11.9 ranked 17th and that was the lowest rate of his career. He ranked second in the country in each of his first two season at St. John's in block percentage.

While standing at 6-foot-9 he has a 7-foot-4 wing span which is a big reason he is such a great defensive player but his rebounding skills leave something to desire as he grabbed just seven per game.

His offensive game is very much a work in progress and in his final year in the Big East he averaged a career-high 5.8 points per game, shot 46 percent from the field and averaged just under five shots per game.

Defense is important but for a player with such a limited -- or underdeveloped if you want to look at it that way -- offensive game it seems that getting drafted is a considerable long shot for Obekpa. The best case early projections have him as a late second-round pick.