Florida State freshman swingman Dwayne Bacon tweeted Wednesday evening he will enter the NBA Draft but will not hire an agent.
Bacon's decision to not have an agent gives him flexibility and presents the possibility he could return to FSU for a second season.
He will have until the May 25th deadline to decide if he will enter the draft or return for his sophomore year. A new rule allows underclassmen to attend the NBA Combine in mid-May and receive feedback from teams.
Players who take advantage of the rule cannot hire an agent.
His tweet comes on the heels of Malik Beasley. Beasley took to Twitter on Monday to say he is entering the NBA Draft. Beasley became the first player in program history to declare for the draft after one season.
Bacon announced the news in a series of four tweets to his near 18,000 Twitter followers. He then issued another tweet where he provided a screenshot of his thoughts in a message document.
He wrote about his respect for Seminoles coach Leonard Hamilton and his staff. Bacon also said how Hamilton and his staff were the ones who gave him a chance to be in his current position.
Bacon wrapped up his post by saying returning to Florida State is "viable" and that he loves being a Seminole.
Questions of Bacon's future began prior to his arrival.
At 6-foot-7 and 210 pounds, he already has an NBA frame and it was just a matter of how he would develop.
Numerous scouts watched Bacon throughout the season and saw him finish what may be his only year averaging 15.8 points and 5.8 rebounds. He shot 44.7 percent from the floor with many of his shots coming from his ability to slice through defenses and reach the basket.
Although Bacon and Beasley combined to become one of the most historic duos in ACC history, it wasn't enough. FSU suffered through injuries to forward Phil Cofer and center Michael Ojo and missed the NCAA Tournament for a fourth consecutive season.
Thoughts of Bacon's future intensified Monday after Beasley said he was leaving.
Bacon, a five-star prospect, told Warchant he was serious about his grades after FSU opened the NIT with a win over Davidson.
"I'm a kid that I'll do whatever it takes to be successful," he told Warchant. "My mom is big on grades. My dad is huge on grades. My GPA, I got all-ACC Academics and it's something you have to do coming to college. I don't want to come to college and be another guy that just plays ball, ends up flunking out of school and not have a life after basketball.
"At some point in time, basketball is going to end. So you have to have something to fall back on. I want something to fall back on after basketball."
Bacon was the only Seminole named to the ACC All-Academic Team earlier this month.
There's not a consensus opinion on where Bacon or Beasley will get drafted.
Some mock drafts have the duo going as mid-to-late first-round picks. Others have neither playing going in the first round.
Should Bacon depart, it would leave the Seminoles with a much different team going into the 2016-17 season.
The Seminoles would be without their two leading scorers from 2015-16 and will have graduated senior marksman Devon Bookert along with forward Montay Brandon and center Boris Bojanovsky.
Losing Bacon, Beasley, Brandon and Bojanovsky would presumably leave point guard Xavier Rathan-Mayes as the only returning starter.
Yet if Bacon stays, he could become the centerpiece of the Seminoles' offense and provide a potential formidable partnership with incoming five-star forward Jonathan Isaac.
Isaac, who actually opted against trying to enter the NBA Draft earlier this year, is one of four signees/commitments FSU has for its 2016 class.
FSU has the No. 8 recruiting class in the nation, according to Rivals.
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