Xavier Tillman spent much of the summer flip-flopping in his decision between keeping his name in the 2020 NBA Draft and withdrawing to returning to Michigan State for his senior year.

What ultimately helped cement his choice, of all things, was an erroneous report about his decision.

Two weeks before the deadline to withdraw from the draft, ESPNs Dick Vitale tweeted that word is Xavier Tillman will return to MSU basketball.

Tillmans phone rang later that day. An NBA executive on the other end of the line asking why Tillman was withdrawing without calling teams first to tell them, as they had requested.

In truth, Tillman hadnt decided to withdraw. And the conversation that day helped convince him not to.

That kind of gave me a lot of confidence, like This team is willing to stick their neck out for me if I put my name in the draft and keep it in the draft, Tillman said.

Eighteen days later, Tillman announced that he would remain in the 2020 NBA Draft and forgo his final year of eligibility at Michigan State.

Reflecting on the decision on a Wednesday call with reporters, Tillman said that while part of him wanted to return to school and make another run at a national championship, he also saw an uncertain season for college basketball amid the COVID-19 pandemic and a chance to get drafted and help provide financial independence for his young family. Tillman has a wife and two children under 4.

Its bittersweet for sure, Tillman said of leaving Michigan State. Thats a place that really helped me change and develop into a man, into really who I am today.

That phone call wasnt the only reason Tillman picked the NBA over Michigan State.

Tillman had hoped to spend the spring and summer raising his draft stock through workouts and the draft combine, by proving himself against higher-ranked players. But even without any workouts, Tillman said he saw his draft stock rise from the time he declared for the draft in March to when he made his final decision just days before the Aug. 3 deadline.

Back in April, Tillman received his initial feedback from the NBAs Undergraduate Advisory Committee. Seventeen percent of the executives polled thought hed be undrafted, Tillman said. The rest saw him in the second round, with the majority pegging him in the back half of the round.

After conducting interviews with around 20 teams throughout the summer, Tillman received some updated feedback. In the second round of feedback, only 10 percent of the league thought he would go undrafted. The rest of his grades skewed more toward the beginning of the second round than the end of it.

He combined that with feedback Tom Izzo received from his NBA contacts and came to a conclusion.

It was like OK, Ive got a really, really good chance of getting drafted, Tillman said.

The decision means that Michigan State will be losing the services of the Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year and its second-leading scorer from 2019-20 and will have to plug a young, inexperienced player into its center spot.

Its a development Tillman admitted may have looked unlikely when he first arrived on campus as a 276-pound freshman.

Physically, I came in as a chubby 18-year-old where people were like Yeah, hes going to have a great four-year career, hes going to be the definition of Spartan basketball, Tillman said. Then coach Izzo turned me into a monster.

Michigan State will be without that monster now, but Tillman said he thinks Michigan State can still stay on top of the Big Ten without him.

I cant wait, I think the whole dynamic of the team is going to be different, but I think if the whole group can engulf it, well see the same type of winning Michigan State organization, Tillman said.

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How some good feedback and an erroneous report helped Xavier Tillman pick the NBA over MSU - MLive.com