Mobile Menu
HEADLINES

Great Osobor

Villanova’s Dixon Among Several Players Withdrawing From Draft

May 28th, 2024 at 12:09pm CST by Luke Adams

The deadline is looming for early entrants to withdraw from the 2024 NBA draft and retain their NCAA eligibility. Those players have until the end of the day on Wednesday to formally remove their names from this year’s draft pool if they hope to resume their college careers.

A number of prospects are taking that route, according to Jon Rothstein of CBS Sports, who tweets that two-time All-Big East Villanova forward Eric Dixon is among those who are withdrawing from the draft to return to school. Dixon averaged 16.6 points and 6.5 rebounds with a .465/.346/.862 shooting line in 30.6 minutes per game across 34 appearances for the Wildcats in 2023/24 and will rejoin the club for his super-senior season in ’24/25.

Former Tulane guard Sion James, who is transferring to Duke (Twitter link), and former Drexel big man Amari Williams, who is transferring to Kentucky (Twitter link), are among the other seniors will who will take advantage of their year of extra eligibility due to COVID and play college ball for another season, per Rothstein. Cincinnati center Aziz Bandaogo, who will remain with the Bearcats after being named the WAC Defensive Player of the Year in 2023/24, is also withdrawing from the draft (Twitter link).

Here are several more of the latest draft withdrawals, via Rothstein:

Retweet 0 Share 0 Send via email0

Draft Notes: Combine, Mocks, Holland, Trade Rumors, Osobor

May 13th, 2024 at 1:03pm CST by Luke Adams

Boogie Ellis (USC), Isaac Jones (Washington State), Jesse Edwards (West Virginia), Nae’Qwan Tomlin (Memphis), and Enrique Freeman (Akron) are among the prospects who stood out at the G League Elite Camp over the weekend and earned invitations to participate in the NBA’s combine this week, according to a series of tweets from Jonathan Givony of ESPN. The G League officially confirmed Givony’s reporting (Twitter link).

The combine got underway in Chicago on Monday, with all participants taking part in shooting drills and undergoing strength, agility, and performance testing.

Language in the NBA’s new Collective Bargaining Agreement requires all prospects to participate in those aspects of the combine, though they’re still permitted to opt out of this week’s scrimmages. Jonathan Wasserman of Bleacher Report (Twitter link) identifies several of the fringe first-rounders who have decided to pass on scrimmaging, including Kyshawn George (Miami), Carlton Carrington (Pittsburgh), Kevin McCullar (Kansas), and Johnny Furphy (Kansas), among many others.

As Chase Hughes of Monumental Sports Network tweets, prospects whose international teams’ seasons haven’t ended are permitted to miss the combine, but those players – including Zaccharie Risacher of JL Bourg and Nikola Topic (Crvena Zvezda) – will be required to complete “pre-draft activities” at a later date.

Here are several more draft-related notes:

  • Wasserman, Kevin O’Connor of The Ringer, and Jonathan Givony and Jeremy Woo of ESPN.com updated their 2024 mock drafts following the conclusion of Sunday’s lottery to reflect the new order. All three mocks have the Hawks using the No. 1 overall pick on French big man Alexandre Sarr.
  • John Hollinger of The Athletic has shared his rankings of the top 20 prospects in the 2024 draft class, with plenty of choices that deviate from the consensus. Hollinger has G League Ignite guard Ron Holland at No. 1, with Sarr at No. 5 and Risacher (ESPN’s top prospect) all the way down at No. 13.
  • Zach Lowe of ESPN (Insider link) and Jake Fischer of Yahoo Sports, two of the media members who were in the draft lottery drawing room on Sunday, share some behind-the-scenes observations from the event and consider what’s next for the teams most impacted by Sunday’s results. Sources tell Lowe that the Rockets (No. 3) and Grizzlies (No. 9) are expected to be among the teams that explore trade possibilities with their picks, though both teams could ultimately end up hanging onto their lottery selections. Meanwhile, Wizards general manager Will Dawkins told Fischer that he thinks “there are multiple All-Stars in this class.” Washington holds the No. 2 pick.
  • Coming off his junior year at Utah State, forward Great Osobor is testing the NBA draft waters, but it sounds like he’ll end up transferring to a new school for his senior year. According to Givony, Osobor has an NIL deal in place with Washington worth $2MM, which is the most lucrative known deal in college basketball this season.
  • A series of ESPN’s NBA reporters explore the biggest questions facing every lottery team.
Retweet 0 Share 0 Send via email0

Kyshawn George, Justin Edwards Among Players Entering Draft

April 5th, 2024 at 12:48pm CST by Luke Adams

Miami Hurricanes wing Kyshawn George intends to enter his name in the 2024 NBA draft pool, he said in a French interview with BeIN Sports (YouTube link; hat tip to Inside The U).

A 6’8″ swingman, George started 16 of the 31 games he played for Miami in his freshman season. While his averages of 7.6 points, 3.0 rebounds, and 2.2 assists in 23.0 minutes per contest were relatively modest, the youngster can handle the ball and has displayed a promising outside shot, having knocked down 40.8% of 4.2 three-pointers per game. He currently ranks 25th on ESPN’s big board of 2024 prospects, making him a potential first-rounder.

It’s unclear at this point whether George plans to forgo his remaining NCAA eligibility or if he’ll test the waters for now, leaving the door open for a potential return to school.

Kentucky wing Justin Edwards – another freshman who has a chance to be a first-round pick – also indicated he plans to declare for the 2024 draft, making his announcement on Instagram. Edwards’ statement didn’t mention anything about maintaining his college eligibility, so it sounds like he intends to go pro.

ESPN’s No. 30 overall prospect, Edwards averaged 8.8 PPG and 3.4 RPG on .486/.365/.776 shooting in 32 games (21.4 MPG) for the Wildcats in 2023/24. He’s one of several Kentucky players who have a chance to be drafted in 2024 — that group includes probable lottery picks Rob Dillingham and Reed Sheppard.

The following prospects are also said to be declaring for the 2024 NBA draft as early entrants while hanging onto their NCAA eligibility (players marked with an asterisk are also entering the transfer portal):

Retweet 0 Share 0 Send via email0