Jarron Cumberland was undrafted Wednesday night as the two-round NBA Draft unfolded.
However, the Wilmington High School graduate’s dream of playing basketball professionally is not over.
According to Jarron’s father Scott, five NBA teams expressed an interest in Cumberland once the draft was complete.
“Sacramento, Houston, OKC (Oklahoma City), Chicago and Cleveland,” Scott said Thursday morning.
Scott said officials from the Houston Rockets contacted Jarron “not more than five minutes after it (the draft) was over with.”
“It was a weird draft,”Scott said. “Everybody went on film.”
Because of Covid-19 restrictions, players did not have the large NBA combine. So teams had to “scout” players based mostly on film, in Cumberland’s case from his days at the University of Cincinnati.
“It’s been a long night,” Scott acknowledged. “He’ll be good. It was a weird draft.”
Scott said the agents representing Jarron are negotiating with the teams, keeping the family updated on the progress. Scott was hopeful of having an agreement very soon.
“Once he (Jarron) gets in there, gets that one foot in the door, then he’ll let talent showcase the rest,” Scott said.
NBA training camps open shortly after Thanksgiving with preseason games set to begin Dec. 11. The NBA regular season is scheduled to start Dec. 22.
Scott said being drafted or signed by a team that is the right fit for Jarron’s talents is more important than simply being selected on draft night or signing for the most money.
Cumberland led Wilmington High School to the Division I boys basketball state final four in 2016. An Ohio Mr. Basketball finalist and nominee for the prestigious McDonald’s All-American Award, he completed this spring a decorated career at the University of Cincinnati.
At UC, Cumberland earned All-American Athletic Conference player of the year honors in 2019 and was honorable mention All-America in 2019. He finished seventh on UC’s all-time scoring list with 1,782 points, after scoring 2,408 points in his high school career. He remains Clinton County’s all-time leading basketball scorer.
Cumberland also is seventh all-time on UC’s career assist list with 415. He joined Oscar Robertson, Steve Logan and Deonta Vaughn as the only players in UC history to have more than 1,700 career points and 400 career assists.
Cumberland majored in Criminal Justice at UC and graduated this past spring.
