Shayok to join Horton-Tucker at NBA Combine, Wigginton goes without invite

Jack Shover

Former Iowa State guard Marial Shayok will be joining another Cyclone, Talen Horton-Tucker, at the NBA Combine after Shayok’s performance at the G League Elite Camp, while Lindell Wigginton failed to earn an invite.

The NBA G League announced 11 players — including Shayok — who were voted upon by NBA teams as the top performers of the three-day camp which featured a total of 40 draft eligible players who were competing for a chance to earn an invite to the NBA Combine.

Iowa State also had former guard Lindell Wigginton featured at the camp, but Wigginton failed to earn an invite.

This is Wigginton’s second time testing the NBA draft process. He earned an invite to the NBA Combine after his freshman year but returned to play as a sophomore this past season.

During his sophomore season, Wigginton was reduced to a bench role. Wigginton was arguably the second best freshman in the Big 12 Conference behind phenom Trae Young—who played at Oklahoma—the previous season.

Despite his role as a sixth man, Wigginton posted nearly identical statistics. He averaged 16.7 points, 3.7 rebounds and 2.8 assists while shooting 41.4 percent from the floor (40.1 percent from three) as a freshman and 13.5 points, four rebounds and 2.1 assists while shooting 41.5 percent from the floor (39 percent from three).

While Wigginton took a reduced role, Shayok came into his own as the Cyclones’ leading scorer after sitting out the previous season, due to NCAA rules after transferring from Virginia to play his final year of eligibility in Ames.

Shayok was an AP Honorable Mention All-American after averaging 18.7 points, 4.9 rebounds and two assists a game with shooting splits of 49.6 percent from the floor and 38.6 percent from three. Shayok was the second leading scorer in the Big 12 behind Kansas’ Dedric Lawson — who averaged 19.3 points per game.

Horton-Tucker, who declared as a freshman, is the only Cyclone to have earned an outright invite to the combine after averaging 11.8 points, 4.9 rebounds and 2.3 assists per game while shooting 40.6 percent from the field (30.8 percent from three).

The combine, which is being held in Chicago, runs from Wednesday to Sunday. ESPN 2 will being airing the combine’s workouts from 3-7 p.m. on Thursday and Friday.