Mitchell Robinson, a heralded five-star recruit who has been on and off Western Kentucky's campus while deciding whether he wants to play college basketball, has decided to leave school and will work out with a trainer this year in preparation for the June 2018 NBA draft.
Multiple sources told ESPN that Robinson left the WKU campus more than a week ago and is home in New Orleans with no intention of returning to school.
Robinson confirmed the news to Scout.com late Sunday night.
"I've decided to leave Western Kentucky and just focus on next year's NBA draft," Robinson told Scout.com.
The 6-foot-11 Robinson, considered a top-10 player in the freshman class, signed with Rick Stansbury and Western Kentucky despite interest from some of the elite programs in the country. He was having second thoughts early in the summer but attended two weeks of summer school before leaving the Bowling Green campus.
Robinson was granted his release to transfer and visited LSU, Kansas and New Orleans. He would have needed a waiver to play at another school because he had attended summer school at WKU. Sources told ESPN that Robinson contemplated sitting out the year before returning to Western Kentucky for the start of the fall semester.
However, Robinson was not happy at Western Kentucky and left again earlier this month for New Orleans. Robinson is an NBA prospect, but the recent uncertainty has not helped his draft stock.
"He's a huge red flag," one high-ranking NBA executive told ESPN. "And I'm not sure he's even that good."