The early entry deadline for 2023 NBA Draft hopefuls passed on Sunday night, setting up big decisions for the players who are preserving their NCAA eligibility while going through the pre-draft process. Players have until 11:59 p.m. on May 31 to withdraw from the draft if they wish to return to college, which sets up an anxious few weeks for players and programs determining what their futures will look like.
Last year, our team each identified one player we believed should return to college after going through the pre-draft process. Two did (Gonzaga’s Drew Timme and Iowa’s Kris Murray), and two didn’t (Arkansas’ Jaylin Williams and Duke’s Trevor Keels).
Williams and Keels wound up as second-round draft picks with Williams landing a multi-year contract with Oklahoma City and starting 36 games as a rookie. Keels, by contrast, appeared in just three NBA games, concluding the season on a two-way contract with the Knicks and facing a somewhat uncertain future.
Returning to college allowed Timme to become Gonzaga’s all-time leading scorer while leading the Zags to the Elite Eight and capitalizing on name, image and likeness opportunities. Murray, meanwhile, solidified his standing as a likely first-round draft pick with a huge year for the Hawkeyes.
So who are the players we believe would benefit from returning to college for the 2023-24 season after going through this year’s NBA Draft process? Our writers weighed in for this week’s dribble handoff.
I’m choosing to answer the question presented in the most literal sense and going with Tshiebwe because I really do believe he could benefit more than any other early entrant to the 2023 NBA Draft by returning to Kentucky and capitalizing on another year of name, image and likeness opportunities.
Do I think he’s likely to improve his NBA Draft stock with a fifth season of college basketball? No. But considering the former CBS Sports National Player of…
..
