(Todd Melet)

Do not fear, Luke Maye will be here next year.

When you think about it, Luke Maye entering the NBA draft process makes perfect sense for the two-time all-academic honoree and first-team All-ACC and most improved player. He knows he is good, but brave enough to find out just how good.

The only way to do that, of course, is by playing at the NBA combine and being evaluated and interviewed by pro general managers and coaches. Plus, Maye saw what it did for Justin Jackson after the 2016 season, when JJ was told he needed to get stronger and improve his outside shot.

That led to many late nights in the Smith Center for Jackson and a manager to retrieve hundreds of his shots. Next season as a junior, Jackson was ACC Player of the Year and improved enough to be the 15th player taken in the 2017 NBA draft after adding a national championship to his resume.

Maye is likely to get his own honest appraisal and work even harder to make himself a better player and the team stronger when he returns for his senior season — and he will return.

We’ve loved Luuuuke since he emerged as a sophomore in the NCAA tournament, making one of the biggest shots in Carolina history against Kentucky, and then made the leap his junior year to become one of the best players in the country. Gosh, he had 17 double-doubles and scored more than 30 points three times. Did we expect that?

Still, we know Maye isn’t the quickest guy for his size on the court or the best leaper, although he was good enough to lead the Tar Heels in rebounding and blocked shots, as well as points and three-point percentage. So you can say he has a complete game but one that must take another step after rival coaches spend the off-season planning how to defend him better.

So Maye had a choice of staying here all summer and working out and scrimmaging every day, which he will likely do when he comes back from the combine and pulls his name out of the draft. Then, how much more will he know about himself when he rejoins his teammates for summer pick-up games and which drills to do like when Jackson kept the lights on all night?

This decision says far more about Luke Maye being a UNC basketball player than just a kid who wants to get into pro ball. Heck, he can do that by running an NBA team some day.

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