Wisconsin Badgers Forward Sam Dekker Declares for NBA Draft

Next fall the Wisconsin Badgers are going to look considerably different than they have the last few years, even more so as news hit today that forward Sam Dekker would declare for the NBA Draft. The junior wrote the following letter to the Badger Nation and posted it today:

A letter from Sam @Dekker #Badgers pic.twitter.com/cuZmmYbe0x

— Wisconsin Basketball (@BadgerMBB) April 10, 2015

Dekker, who was the West Region's Most Outstanding player, was previously seen as possibly a late first round draft pick. However, after the last month the junior saw his stock soar and could sneak into the lottery, with a mid-1st round outcome seeing relatively likely.

With Dekker's NBA prospects at an all-time high and the Badgers roster set to see enough turnover that next season will likely be considerably less successful, it makes sense for the forward to head to the pros. Dekker had his best season in Madison this past winter, averaging 13.9 points per game on 52% shooting.

It's hard to blame Dekker as the Badgers will lose Frank Kaminsky, Josh Gasser, Traevon Jackson and Duje Dukan this summer to graduation. This, of course, puts Wisconsin in an interesting spot as they'll have plenty of question marks heading into the 2015-16 season after Bo Ryan's most successful year at Wisconsin.