Iverson Molinar declared for the draft in March, hoping to be a strong, impactful player for one of the 30 NBA teams like he had been for the Mississippi State Men’s basketball team. His decision to leave the University didn’t go as planned though.
Although Molinar originally declared with the intent to maintain his collegiate eligibility, he signed with an agent in April, forgoing his remaining time at Mississippi State.
After going unselected in Thursday’s NBA draft, the Panamanian guard signed an undrafted free-agent deal with the Milwaukee Bucks. Molinar going undrafted Thursday night was not particularly surprising, a lot of analysts expected him to do so, though the small hope of going late in the second round faded quickly.
He led his college team with 17.5 points per game, sitting third in the SEC, and averaged 3.6 assists and 3.1 rebounds per game. Although the team never made it to an NCAA tournament while Molinar was on the team, he gained experience in other ways, appearing with Panama’s national team in the FIBA World Cup.
Molinar, who shot only 25.2 percent from deep last season down almost 20 percent from his sophomore season, was still a reliable scoring presence for the Bulldogs reaching double digits in all 34 games as the program went 18-16, loosing in the first round of the NIT tournament.
This is the second year in a row that Mississippi State has lost a guard before the end of their college career. Molinar is following in the footsteps of D.J. Stewart Jr. who left the program last year and went undrafted, a move that angered former head coach Ben Howland who was fired at the end of the 2021-22 season.
The exact kind of contract that Molinar signed with the Bucks is still unknown, though it is more than likely either an Exhibit 10 deal for training camp or a two-way contract. It will be interesting to see where Iverson Molinar will fit in on a team with Giannis Antetokounmpo, Jrue Holiday and Khris Middleton this upcoming season.
Originally Published: June 24, 2022 - Cowbell Corner
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