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Tony Snell will dip his toe into the NBA waters.
New Mexico head basketball coach Steve Alford said Tuesday afternoon his star junior guard will put his name into the upcoming NBA Draft.
“Tony has decided to test the interest level of the NBA,” Alford said. “We are helping him to gather that information.”
Snell has not hired an agent. By NCAA rule, such a move prohibits Snell from returning to collegiate basketball. He has until April 16 to make a decision.
Snell scored 12.5 points per game this season, the 13th-best average in the Mountain West Conference. He was the second-highest scorer for UNM, starting all 35 games. He also shot .422 from the field, .390 from 3-point range, pulled down 92 rebounds and provided 101 assists this year.
Snell won the Mountain West Basketball Championship MVP award as the Lobos won the tournament title for the second straight year. He scored 17.6 points per game and shooting 52 percent in wins over Wyoming, San Diego State and UNLV.
He also helped the Lobos win the MWC regular-season title, their fourth in five years, with a 13-3 record over league teams.
As a No. 3 seed in NCAA tournament, UNM fell to No. 14 Harvard 68-62 last Thursday. Snell scored nine points in that game on 4 of 12 shooting. He made one 3-pointer on six attempts.
No other information on Snell entering the draft was immediately available. The team will hold an end-of-year press conference this morning.
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