UAB senior guard Jordan Walker, San Francisco senior guard Khalil Shabazz, and Auburn sophomore big man Johni Broome are among the players who have indicated that they’ll withdraw from the 2022 NBA draft class and return to college for at least one more year, according to a series of announcements.
None of the three were considered great bets to be drafted in 2022, so they’ll look to improve their stock in 2022/23 before potentially returning pro a year from now. Walker and Shabazz will have exhausted their NCAA eligibility at that point, while Broome – who recently announced that he’ll transfer to Auburn from Morehead State – will have the option of remaining in school.
Early entrants in this year’s draft have until the end of the day on June 1 to withdraw their names if they want to retain their NCAA eligibility. The NBA’s official withdrawal deadline is June 13.
Here’s more on the 2022 draft:
- Earlier this week, the NBA sent teams a list of 17 Pro Days that will be run by agencies at next week’s draft combine in Chicago, per Jonathan Givony of ESPN (Twitter link). Shaedon Sharpe, Keegan Murray, Dyson Daniels, and Jeremy Sochan will be among the many prospects in attendance at those various agency-run Pro Days, Givony adds.
- Yeshiva swingman Ryan Turell, a Division III star, has been forced to withdraw from next week’s NBA G League Elite Camp after suffering a minor injury in a workout, sources tell Adam Zagoria of ZagsBlog.com (Twitter link).
- Memphis wing Josh Minott has worked out for the Nets, Grizzlies, and Bucks early in the pre-draft process, a league source tells Zagoria (Twitter link).
- Jeremy Woo of SI.com identifies five of his favorite under-the-radar prospects in the 2022 draft class, including NC State guard Terquavion Smith and UConn forward Tyrese Martin.