BYU basketball’s Eric Mika lands invitation to the NBA Combine

While all eyes are fixated on the NFL Draft, BYU basketball’s Eric Mika received an invitation to the NBA Combine. So what’s it mean?

Eric Mika was the best player on the court for BYU basketball last season.

Unfortunately for the Cougars, it doesn’t appear that Mika will be back in Provo for next season.

Mika received an invitation to the NBA Combine today, bringing him one step closer to his dream of playing professional basketball.

While getting the invite to the NBA Combine doesn’t mean Mika’s BYU basketball career is over, but usually half of the combine invitees end up getting drafted.

Mika hasn’t hired an agent, so he’ll have until June 12 to remove his name from the draft. In the meantime, BYU basketball head coach Dave Rose has to hold a scholarship open for him.

He averaged 20.3 points and 9.2 rebounds per game last season for the Cougars, while averaging 28.6 minutes per game. The best game of his season came on Feb. 25 in BYU basketball’s 79-71 upset of No. 1 Gonzaga in Spokane. Mika scored 29 points on 10-of-14 shooting and added 11 rebounds.

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It’s worth noting that many of the draft’s top prospects declined their invitations (Lonzo Ball, perhaps most notably, is one of those players). Because those players aren’t going to Chicago, different players were invited.

That’s not to take anything from Mika’s impressive abilities, but I’ve never completely understood the NBA Draft hype surrounding Mika.

Most draft analysts have Mika outside the first two rounds (DraftExpress, one of the foremost sources on all things NBA Draft, has Mika ranked as the 75th best player in the class). I think he has more to gain by returning to the Cougars.

But, at the same time, no one can blame Mika from moving on and getting paid, if that’s what he wants.