North Carolina freshman forward Day’Ron Sharpe is putting his name into the 2021 NBA Draft, he announced on Wednesday. The former McDonald’s All-American did not mention testing the waters, and sources close to the situation confirm to Inside Carolina that Sharpe intends to stay in the draft and does not plan to leave open the possibility of returning to school.
“I’ve always said that I wanted to go to UNC. I received plenty of offers, but chose to wait for UNC to offer me – believe me, I don’t regret that decision,” Sharpe said in his announcement. “In the past year I’ve met people that I never thought would make such an impact on my life. My teammates and I have worked together, loved together, laughed together, played and cried together. I love the bond we’ve created. I also really want to thank the coaching staff for believing that I would be a great addition to the team.
“I feel that I’m now ready for the next level. I’ve made it this far and there’s no reason for me to stop now! … This is only the beginning of a dream I have worked so hard to accomplish. With that being said, I will be declaring for the NBA Draft with high hopes for the support of my Carolina Family. Once a Tar Heel, always a Tar Heel!”
The Greenville, N.C. native earned All-ACC Freshman team honors after averaging 9.5 points and 7.6 rebounds per game. He shot 51.9% from the floor, tied for the team lead with 26 blocks and was arguably the team’s best passer in dishing out 42 assists. Sharpe finished second to Florida State’s Scottie Barnes in both ACC Freshman of the Year and Sixth Man of the Year voting.
“Day’Ron is going to be a fantastic professional player,” UNC head coach Roy Williams said in a statement. “I loved coaching him. He has a tremendously high motor. He’s naturally one of the greatest rebounders I’ve ever coached and a young man I truly just enjoyed. I think over the next few years if he gets even a little more disciplined, a little more focused, we are going to see an unbelievable player at the professional level, just like I think he had a chance to be an unbelievable player here for us. I loved coaching him and will cheer for him forever.”
The 6-foot-10, 265-pound forward provided energy and athleticism off the bench for the Tar Heels. He led the country in offensive rebound percentage (.183) and the ACC in offensive rebounds per game (3.4). In ACC games, Sharpe led the conference in offensive rebounding percentage (.20) and ranked third in defensive rebounding percentage (24.7). He finished the season with the highest offensive rebounds per 40 minutes average in school history (7.0), improving upon Kennedy Meeks’s 6.25 mark in 2016-17.
“His tenacity, his effort to try to get every rebound on the offensive end I think is great,” senior forward Garrison Brooks said last month. “He’s always wanting to get the ball off the glass because it’s just something he naturally has a talent for.”
Sharpe posted seven double-doubles and led the team with six defensive player of the game awards. He scored a career-high 25 points against Notre Dame on Jan. 2 and grabbed a career-high 16 rebounds three days later at Miami.
“He’s been phenomenal in our practices,” Roy Williams said in January. “Even early on in the fall when we were practicing and we had guys like Tyler Zeller, Tyler Hansbrough, and Theo (Pinson) and Cam (Johnson) and Coby (White), those were the five guys on the Blue Team one day, he was really good and they were all tremendously impressed with Day’Ron.
“I think getting him to this level is just a testament of how hard he has continued to work … And he plays so hard that he makes things happen and normally makes things happen in a good sense for North Carolina.”
Sharpe is ranked No. 33 on ESPN’s NBA Draft rankings and represents UNC’s only candidate to be drafted in the first round. His decision to enter the draft is even more significant given Walker Kessler’s transfer announcement earlier this week.
