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SALT LAKE CITY — As the regular season comes to a close, University of Utah sophomore Jakob Poeltl is likely to be playing his last game at the Huntsman Center Saturday.
Although not surprising to anyone who has watched his game this season, Poeltl told media Thursday he was "leaning" on declaring for the NBA draft after the season was over.
"The way it looks right now, I'm thinking about going to the draft," he said. "I'm not going to make a final decision until the season is over. All I can tell you right now is I'm leaning towards it."
Poeltl said there's still a possibility he could come back, but "honestly haven't thought about it too much."
"Anything could happen, I guess. I haven't thought about it in depth, like the whole process and how it's going to be playing in the NBA," he said. "Maybe after the season, I'll talk with my parents and friends and realize that that's maybe not for me, like the pro life. Like maybe I want to wait a little more to mature; that could be a reason. Or maybe I injury myself and it's not the right move at the time."
Utah head coach Larry Krystkowiak said, "it's safe to make the assumption he may not be around." He said that the university, though, will only honor the five seniors Saturday and that honoring Poeltl would not be "part of the process."
"We're going to make it short and sweet," Krystkowiak said, speaking about the pregame celebration to honor the seniors. "The celebration, the presentation, those type of things are really far less important than what they all stand for and what they're trying to accomplish. I don't think any of us are really into the glitz and the glamour and the show and the hoopla involving it."
Krystkowiak hasn't given any indication on whether he believes Poeltl is ready for the NBA, but has said he doesn't have any doubts that he'll be successful at the next level. However, at the conclusion of the season, Krystkowiak will once again have a conversation with Poeltl to discuss his options moving forward.
At the end of last season, with the talk of Poeltl potentially having the opportunity to play in the NBA, Krystkowiak said he sat Poeltl down and laid out the options and pitched Utah and what the team would look like should he choose to come back.
"I told Jakob when the season was over, I said 'let's just make the assumption that you don't get any better, you don't get any stronger and you're the exact same player from a basketball point of view where you were in your freshman year. How much better are you going to be knowing what to expect and being a little more comfortable with the culture and environment and the referees and the college game?' I don't think a lot of those things get talked about enough," he said.
"We talked about how the summer was going to go for me and us as a team and how our program is going to go in the second year and how the offense was going to be built more around the post play and stuff like that," Poeltl recalled. "Those were the two things we talked about before I made my decision, so I had a better picture of what I had and what the season was going to look like. He actually followed through on all those things. The summer went really well."
Whatever the decision for Poeltl, Krystkowiak hopes his star center makes the decision that's best for him.
"I think sometimes what happens is you get some outside influences telling you that you need to go to the draft. It's a vulnerable time. And what I think players need to be reminded of is how exciting this time of year is to be a college player," Krystkowiak said. "It's hard to fast forward to the bus and that D-League and some of the things that aren't as exciting in December. But I think it's really important that guys take a hard look at their futures.
"It's not about jumping for that opportunity right away, but it's thinking long-term plan," he added. "I'm an advocate of making sure you're ready for that next level. I think he's a little bit of a poster child of what that process is, and I hope to see more kids thinking the same way."
Poeltl has made a demonstrative upgrade to his game, particularly on offense, and is now considered a viable lottery pick in the upcoming NBA draft once he declares. The sophomore center is averaging 17.6 points and 9.0 rebounds per game and is an Oscar Robertson finalist, Naismith semifinalist and a Pac-12 Player of the Year candidate.
The college recognitions and NBA draft attention, though, is not distracting to Poeltl.
"I don't think I really feel that pressure, to be honest," he said. "The biggest pressure I feel during games is the one I put on myself because I hold myself up to higher expectations. I want to perform at a really high level. I don't want to really worry about other things that other people think about me or the way I play or how good I play. It's more in my own head. And I think that's what probably even pushes me more than it bothers me during a game."
For now, though, Poeltl is focused on Saturday's game 7:30 p.m. game with Colorado and the ensuing Pac-12 Tournament and the NCAA Tournament.
"To be honest, I'm just happy at the position we're in right now," he said. "We have a chance to win a Pac-12 championship, even if it's a share. We have a really big game in front of us, and that's really the focus right now. I'm glad about it. I think we fought hard throughout the whole season and I'm glad we put ourselves in this spot."
