Freshman Vaughn announces he’s leaving UNLV to enter NBA Draft

By Taylor Bern

Wednesday, April 8, 2015 | 10:11 a.m.

Saying he’s “following his heart,” UNLV freshman Rashad Vaughn announced this morning in a Youtube video that he’s leaving early to declare for the NBA Draft.

“To the fans and to the people that I’ve met here in Vegas, you guys are truly second to none and I will forever cherish you in my heart,” Vaughn said. “I will forever be a Runnin’ Rebel and always bleed scarlet and gray.”

The announcement comes 11 days after Yahoo’s Adrian Wojnarowski originally reported that Vaughn had decided to enter the draft, citing unnamed league sources. Another report came out last week, from Draft Express’ Jonathan Givony, that said Vaughn had already signed with player agency Octagon Basketball. Vaughn’s father, Troy Vaughn, denied both times that any decision had been made, possibly because Rashad wanted to announce the decision on his own terms.

Vaughn, a Minneapolis native, came to UNLV after a year at Findlay Prep as the centerpiece of a prized recruiting class. He was ranked No. 8 overall by Rivals, No. 12 by 24/7 Sport’s composite rankings and never expected to stay in college more than a year or two.

Vaughn led the Rebels with 17.8 points and 4.8 rebounds per game, earning the league’s Freshman of the Year honors despite missing the final nine games because of a torn meniscus. Two years earlier another former Findlay Prep product led UNLV in scoring and then left for the draft after his freshman season.

That guy, Anthony Bennett, was drafted No. 1 overall, but it’s not clear Vaughn will get drafted at all. NBADraft.net has him at No. 33 in the second round, Draft Express has him at No. 48 and ESPN’s Chad Ford has Vaughn in the late second round or undrafted. Only players selected in the first round receive guaranteed money.

Vaughn has had significant knee injuries each of the past two years so part of his decision could have been to get into the league before that gets worse. Either way, UNLV’s coaches certainly weren’t shocked by the decision and plans have already been in motion for his vacant scholarship, with one of those being an invitation for Findlay Prep junior commit Justin Jackson to reclassify to 2015.

Overall, Vaughn is the fourth Rebel under coach Dave Rice to declare early for the draft. Bennett was taken No. 1 overall in 2013 while Khem Birch and Roscoe Smith both went undrafted last year after leaving a season early.

Taylor Bern can be reached at 948-7844 or [email protected]. Follow Taylor on Twitter at twitter.com/taylorbern.