Nova Scotia's Lindell Wigginton contemplating early jump to NBA
After just one season of college basketball in the United States, Nova Scotia star Lindell Wigginton is contemplating entering this year's NBA draft.
"For next season, I'm still deciding if I'm going to test the waters for the NBA draft or not," Wigginton said by phone from the campus of Iowa State University in Ames, Iowa. "But maybe I will stay for another year."
Wigginton, who grew up in Dartmouth, N.S., and will turn 20 next week, recently completed his rookie season at Iowa State and led his team in scoring. His numbers in the second half of the season improved dramatically, and in the last month he averaged 20 points a game.
Entering the NBA draft is a big decision for the guard.
"It's something I'm trying to figure out with my family," said Wigginton, who made a quick trip home to Nova Scotia last week. "I'm probably not going to sign an agent or anything but I'm hoping to get some good feedback from NBA personnel to see where I'm really at."
Iowa State did not have a great season. The Cyclones won only four of their last 18 games and are not taking part in the NCAA's March Madness tournament.
"Individually, I thought I had a great season but team-wise we never met our standards like we wanted to," said Wigginton. "I'm not used to losing."
But the team did have some big wins over schools ranked in the NCAA's top 20, including West Virginia and Texas Tech.
Wigginton agreed to play with Iowa State last spring after a highly rewarding career at Oak Hill Academy, a perennial top ranked prep school team in Virginia.
In 2016, he led Oak Hill to a national championship title in a thrilling game where he scored the game-winning shot at Madison Square Garden in New York.
Wigginton has two basketball communities firmly supporting him and his efforts to become the first Nova Scotian to play in the NBA. His mother grew up in Halifax's Uniacke Square and his father is from North Preston.
Wigginton regularly made highlight-reel plays this season.
His most memorable one came in a game against Oklahoma on March 2. It was an acrobatic dunk that was featured on ESPN and lit up sports social media.
"It was a good feeling for sure, my Twitter was blown up after that, my Instagram was blown up too, all social media," said Wigginton. "A lot of people were showing me some love but I'm kind of used to that."
Wigginton will have to make a decision soon on the NBA draft.
April 22 is the last day for early entry eligibility. June 11 is the last day that college players who have entered early could withdraw and return to their school for another year.
Draft day is June 21 at the Barclays Center in New York.
