AJ Hoggard declaring for the NBA draft is a smart move

Michigan State basketball fans are waking up to some surprising news about AJ Hoggard, but there’s no need to panic.

A bit of a surprising development unfolded on Tuesday night regarding the potential future of Michigan State basketball.

According to Kyle Austin, who originally noticed the newsworthy development, AJ Hoggard is on the list of NBA draft early entrants which was released on Tuesday.

AJ Hoggard is on the NBA’s list of early draft entrants https://t.co/7pye6CsWmj

— Kyle Austin (@kylebaustin) April 26, 2023

Hoggard now joins Jaden Akins and Joey Hauser on the list and it’s likely that the two guards return after getting feedback from NBA teams.

For those panicking once again: stop it.

Hold all of your “he’s not ready” and “this is a dumb move” comments because he probably knows this and it’s not a dumb move. Hoggard is going to get feedback so he can be the best player possible next season and work on improving his draft stock.

Most underclassmen who declare for the NBA draft do so in order to get this feedback. And the fact that Hoggard did declare and didn’t make it public makes it seem like that’s exactly what he’s doing.

This is a really smart move and it’s something that Tom Izzo actually encourages. He said in his post-season press conference that he expected at least a couple of guys to put their names in the draft to get that feedback. He also said he didn’t expect any surprises.

I know there will be a portion of the fanbase that panics over this news and I’m here to tell you not to worry because there’s a really good chance he’s coming back.

But you have to realize it’s his dream to play in the NBA so getting that feedback to figure out what he needs to work on is imperative to reaching that goal.

So don’t panic and just let Hoggard go through the process and get better as a player.