Lawal will remain at Tech

Scouts from nearly every NBA team saw Gani Lawal play over the last month, either in individual or group workouts.

And the Georgia Tech forward came away thinking he wasn’t a first-round lock.

“I definitely wanted to be in a position where I saw myself going in the first round, but if it was shaky, I wanted to come back and keep working,” Lawal said Sunday night of his decision to withdraw from the NBA draft.

“I talked to several teams and learned a lot about where I’d fit in as far as the draft. I got a lot of information, and it was very helpful.”

The 6-foot-9 forward’s return for his junior year positions the Yellow Jackets for a major turnaround.

Tech boasts a terrific freshman class led by 6-foot-9 Derrick Favors, Scout.com’s No. 1 prospect nationally, and senior wing D’Andre Bell has been cleared to return after undergoing spinal surgery. Lawal said he’s looking forward to ending his Tech career on a better note than last season’s 12-19 debacle.

“We’re going to use last year as motivation to turn this around,” he said. “It’s not going to happen automatically, but the makings of a good team are definitely there.”

Lawal made a smart decision, ESPN analyst Jay Bilas said.

“Gani will be a better player when he gets into the league because of this,” Bilas said. “He’ll rise up in the draft and probably end up making more money in the process.”

Favors will benefit from playing alongside the veteran, Bilas added.

“Those two playing together gives them as formidable a front line as there will be in the ACC,” Bilas said. “The only issue for Georgia Tech will be guard play.”

Bilas called Lawal’s decision “a nice piece of karma” for a program that’s been hit hard by players leaving early for the NBA.

Monday is the deadline for underclassmen to withdraw from the June 25 draft. Lawal said he reached his decision late Saturday night.

During workouts in seven NBA cities, Lawal said he earned praise for his hustle and physique, but was told he needed to improve his midrange jumper, passing out of the post and free throws.

Those were areas he knew needed work, “but it’s always good to have those second and third opinions,” Lawal said.

Lawal earned third-team All-ACC honors last season by averaging 15.1 points, 9.5 rebounds and 1.5 blocks. He shot 55.6 percent from the field, but only 55.9 percent from the foul line.

Coach Paul Hewitt was “very, very supportive” throughout the decision-making process, Lawal said, adding Hewitt was happy when he got the news Sunday.

Two mock drafts projected Lawal would go 24th to the Portland Trailblazers. But another already had pushed him to the 2010 draft.

“I just felt that as far as the information I was getting, this was the best thing for me,” Lawal said.