Earlier today Andre Drummond, the consensus #2 player in the class of 2012 (behind Shabazz Muhammad), announced that he would be heading to Wilbraham & Monson Academy in Massachusetts for a post-graduate year. After Drummond graduated from St. Thomas More Academy in Connecticut this spring there was some speculation that he might head to college this coming year with Connecticut being the likely destination as he had previously committed there. However, those rumors were dispelled and it was widely believed that Drummond would return to St. Thomas More for a post-graduate year, which he confirmed as recently as 5 days ago although his coach at St. Thomas More did not appear to be as sure.
Ultimately, Drummond’s decision to switch prep schools for his post-graduate year probably will not affect his “list”, which includes UConn, Kentucky, Louisville, Georgetown, and West Virginia (even in light of Luke Winn’s excellent research on top-100 recruits and their tendency to switch high schools). In reality, the big question with Drummond has shifted from whether he will go to school “early” (technically it would be on time although he is relatively young for his grade) to whether he will enter the NBA Draft after his post-graduate year. Under the current NBA Collective Bargaining Agreement Drummond would be able to do so (and likely be a top 5 pick) as his high school class would have graduated one year earlier, but that may all change depending on how negotiations go with the ongoing NBA lockout. Like any college basketball fan, we would love to see Drummond in college even if it is only for a year, but it is beginning to seem more likely that we will not be seeing that.