Kansas basketball’s Christian Braun will remain in NBA draft process, not return to college

LAWRENCE — Christian Braun’s college career at Kansas will end with the Jayhawks’ national-championship winning season, as he has elected to remain in the NBA draft process and pursue his professional career.

Braun explained the decision in a post on Twitter on Tuesday, citing feedback he received throughout the NBA combine and discussions with family and his collegiate coaching staff. The post followed a tweet from WME Sports that BDA Sports and WME Sports had added Braun, along with Jalen Williams and Jabari Walker, to their 2022 NBA draft class.

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“While I am extremely excited for what the future holds, I would be lying if I said this wasn’t a hard decision," said Braun, in the tweet. "I have a deep love for Kansas, my teammates, the coaching staff, and our fans. I hope you saw that passion every single game. Winning a national championship was a lifelong dream for a kid from Kansas — and we did that. I’ll never forget that moment, that run, and the work we put in to get there. To our fans, you have no idea the difference you make. There is truly no place like Kansas and nothing like playing in Allen Fieldhouse. I will never take that for granted."

Braun continued: "To my teammates and the coaches, thank you for always pushing me and making me better day in and day out. I’ve grown not only on the court, but off the court as well. To my family, thank you for being there every step of this journey. While I may not be at Kansas next year, Lawrence will forever be ‘home.’ Now, it’s time to continue to work and take everything I learned at Kansas to make myself the best I can possibly be. I hope to make you all proud and cannot wait to represent Kansas basketball at the next level. Rock Chalk forever.”

Braun recently participated in the NBA’s draft combine, alongside fellow Kansas standouts in Ochai Agbaji and Jalen Wilson. Braun, like Agbaji, has been projected by some in mock drafts to be a first round pick when the draft is held June 23. If so, it’d be the latest draft in Jayhawks program history that’s seen multiple first-round selections in the same year.

Braun spent three seasons at Kansas, after coming into college as a 247Sports Composite three-star prospect. He developed into a regular starter as a sophomore, and as a junior on the Jayhawks’ national-championship team started 39 of his 40 appearances. This past season, he averaged 14.1 points, 6.5 rebounds and 2.8 assists per game.

Braun impressed at the NBA combine with a max vertical leap of 40 inches, and possesses the size that could allow him to be an effective talent on the wing in the NBA. Considering he shot 38.6% from behind the arc and 49.5% from the field in his final season in college, he’s certainly shown he’s capable of being a reliable shooter. And that’s not to mention his prowess as a defender.

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“We all believe Christian is a first-round talent,” Kansas head coach Bill Self said in a release when Braun declared last month. “We think he has a shot to go high in the draft and we are very hopeful that he does. If he doesn’t get the feedback, he wants to keep his amateur eligibility available to him and keep his options open to return to school. I honestly believe if Christian performs like he is capable of performing, he’s a guy who is talented enough that the feedback he’ll receive is one that he can be a high draft pick and then it will be Christian’s and his family’s decision to do whatever they want to do after that.”

More: How Kansas' Ochai Agbaji, Christian Braun, Jalen Wilson performed at NBA’s draft combine

During the combine, Self did describe Braun as the team’s “swag guy.” So, moving forward, someone or multiple people will have to step up for the Jayhawks to fill that void. But the future of the Kansas roster isn’t as unclear as it could have been at this point, with Braun’s decision revealed not long before the June 1 deadline that marks the date when he would have had to withdraw from the draft process by.

Recently, the Jayhawks added a commitment from a potential transfer in Kevin McCullar. McCullar, whose career in college began at Texas Tech, has yet to officially announce whether he will remain in the draft process or not. However, should McCullar decide to do so, he can fill the scholarship opening created by Braun’s departure and join Kansas as one of the best transfer options available due to McCullar’s own defensive capabilities and promise offensively.

Jordan Guskey covers University of Kansas Athletics at The Topeka Capital-Journal. Contact him at jmguskey@gannett.com or on Twitter at @JordanGuskey.

This article originally appeared on Topeka Capital-Journal: Kansas' Christian Braun to remain in NBA draft 2022 process