2023 Other Peoples Draft Decisions

[tommy]

To the surprise of nobody, Michigan’s Jett Howard declared for the draft. Very good shooter but poor defender and not much of a creator. First round draft pick though due to the shooting and his very good size as a shooter.

[SavDukeGrad]

Judah Mintz of Syracuse has declared for the draft, but plans to also retain his college eligibility.

[brevity]

UCF: Taylor Hendricks Declares for 2023 NBA Draft

The 6-foot-9 Hendricks led UCF in several categories during the 2022-23 season, helping lead the Knights to their first postseason appearance since the team's 2018-19 NCAA Tournament appearance. He netted 515 points on the campaign, averaging 15.1 points per game. He pulled in seven rebounds per contest and tallied 59 blocks. He led the team in field goal percentage, shooting a 47.8% clip, and was second on the team in three-point percentage with a 39.4% mark from downtown. Hendricks started all 34 UCF games this season.

South Carolina: Jackson II Declares for 2023 NBA Draft

Standout freshman Gregory “GG” Jackson II announced he will forgo his remaining college eligibility after declaring for the 2023 NBA Draft on Friday morning.

In his one season as a Gamecock, Jackson earned a spot on the SEC All-Freshman Team after averaging 15.4 points (9th in SEC) and 5.9 rebounds per game (13th in SEC). His scoring average was the fifth-most in the nation by a freshman.

Rutgers: Clifford Omoruyi Declares for 2023 NBA Draft, While Maintaining NCAA Eligibility

Omoruyi became the first player in Rutgers basketball history to be selected Preseason First-Team All-Big Ten in 2022-23. At the completion of the season, the Benin City, Nigeria native was selected to First-Team All-Big Ten Defensive Team and to the Second-Team All-Big Ten (media).

Omoruyi averaged 13.2 points-per-game, 9.6 rebounds and 2.1 blocks for the Scarlet Knights. His 72 blocks on the year were good for 15th in the nation and third in the Big Ten. His 325 rebounds were tied for 17th in the country.

Current ESPN draft rankings of best players available -- whether they declare or not -- has these players ranked as follows:

#12 Taylor Hendricks (#2 at power forward position)
#16 Jett Howard (#5 at SG)
#28 GG Jackson (#5 at PF)
#65 Judah Mintz (#18 at SG)

Clifford Omoruyi is not ranked at this time.

[tommy]

Houston’s star freshman Jarace Walker is in. Lottery pick.

[JasonEvans]

Taylor Hendricks was the #67 prospect in the nation coming out of high school. Goes to show how tough it is to evaluate pro potential as these kids enter college. There will be 5-star top 20 recruits who don't turn pro this year while a freshman who was barely in the top 70 is projected to have a good shot at the lottery.

I know many UCF fans had hoped Hendricks would stick around as they move to the B12, which is going to be a major step up in competition and a real challenge for Johnny Dawkins.

[dudog84]

I know many UCF fans had hoped Hendricks would stick around as they move to the B12, which is going to be a major step up in competition and a real challenge for Johnny Dawkins.

Johnny's biggest challenge will be travel. I believe his closest B12 buddy will be Houston, and they'll have to go as far as Utah (BYU).

Though I guess it's not as bad as UCLA and USC traveling to New Jersey.

Fie on college sports.

[gam7]

Taylor Hendricks was the #67 prospect in the nation coming out of high school. Goes to show how tough it is to evaluate pro potential as these kids enter college. There will be 5-star top 20 recruits who don't turn pro this year while a freshman who was barely in the top 70 is projected to have a good shot at the lottery.

I suspect we'll see more of these outlier situations this year than in most years because COVID wiped out a pretty important chunk of this recruiting class's development/exposure to college coaches. The cracks that kids could fall through were bigger for this recruiting class than they usually are.

I know many UCF fans had hoped Hendricks would stick around as they move to the B12, which is going to be a major step up in competition and a real challenge for Johnny Dawkins.

That step-up to the B12 might be a reason he's leaving now!

[scottdude8]

Houston’s star freshman Jarace Walker is in. Lottery pick.

Wow, that’s an unusually quick announcement… they just got bounced not even 48 hours ago!

[tommy]

Ohio State's Bryce Sensabaugh is in, although he is retaining his eligibility to return. He's a likely first rounder, so he's probably gone.

[SavDukeGrad]

Terquavion Smith to the draft. All in - Forgoing college eligibility.

[JasonEvans]

Terquavion Smith to the draft. All in - Forgoing college eligibility.

State was kinda lucky to get him back last year. He could easily have entered the draft. His stock is about the same now as it was then... perhaps a late first but more likely an early 2nd round pick.

[DavidBenAkiva]

State was kinda lucky to get him back last year. He could easily have entered the draft. His stock is about the same now as it was then... perhaps a late first but more likely an early 2nd round pick.

Good reminder that coming back doesn't automatically result in boosting draft stock.

We are very lucky that Tyrese Proctor is coming back for a sophomore season. Any future announcements from the freshmen would also be very lucky for Duke.

[tommy]

State was kinda lucky to get him back last year. He could easily have entered the draft. His stock is about the same now as it was then... perhaps a late first but more likely an early 2nd round pick.

I think his stock went down from where he would've been selected last year to where he'll be picked this year, despite his having a really good year offensively for State.

[JasonEvans]

I think his stock went down from where he would've been selected last year to where he'll be picked this year, despite his having a really good year offensively for State.

Probably depends on his workouts. When he declared a year ago no one thought much of it but then his workouts and measurables at the combine were really impressive and he rose up draft board to where he had a chance to be a first rounder. The same thing could happen again this year. I hope it does, he seems like a good kid who works hard.

[JasonEvans]

Probably depends on his workouts. When he declared a year ago no one thought much of it but then his workouts and measurables at the combine were really impressive and he rose up draft board to where he had a chance to be a first rounder. The same thing could happen again this year. I hope it does, he seems like a good kid who works hard.

Here is an article about Smith kicking butt at the combine last year: https://www.backingthepack.com/nc-st...-draft-combine

[gam7]

Keyonte George is entering the draft, giving up eligibility. No. 9 on Givony’s draft board. No surprise here. https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/...t?platform=amp

[tommy]

UCLA’s Jaylen Clark has declared, but is not giving up his college eligibility just yet. The 6’5” Clark really flew under the national radar for much of this season, but he did average 13 points and six rebounds in addition to being one of the top defensive wings in the nation. Of course, he is just coming off
a torn Achilles, which makes his decision pretty tricky. Clark was a really important player for UCLA, and I believe that if he had been healthy, along with center Aden Bona being available to play, UCLA would have had a good chance to beat not only Gonzaga, but also UConn, and they’d be in Houston right now.

[brevity]

Similarly, Tosan Evbuomwan, who just took Princeton to the Sweet 16 and was named to the South Region All-Tournament Team, is a senior with at least one remaining year of eligibility, possibly two. He could theoretically declare for the draft, but should he transfer, he's going to be an important addition.

No longer theoretical. Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress/ESPN tweeted that Princeton's Tosan Evbuomwan did declare for the draft and will sign with an agent. ESPN has him ranked in its Best Available list as the #21 small forward and #86 player overall.

Also, the owner of the most litigious name in college basketball is going pro. Justice Sueing of Ohio State, despite playing his freshman year in 2017-2018, is somehow declaring early for the draft, according to a tweet from ESPN's Jeff Borzello. (He was at Cal for 2 seasons, sat out a transfer year, and played his 3rd and 4th seasons at Ohio State, with an injury hardship year in between.)

This guy was in the same high school graduating class as DeAndre Ayton and Trae Young.

[DavidBenAkiva]

According to the algorithm that is Jon Rothstein, UVA's Reece Beekman has put his name into the draft while maintaining his eligibility.

https://twitter.com/jonrothstein/sta...7n3qJnQMsoRZcQ

Suffice it to say, losing Beekman would be a disaster for UVA next season. They already lose a ton with the players that have aged out. They also lost promising redshirt FR F Isaac Traudt to the transfer portal, presumably to move closer to home. Kadin Shedrick and Francisco Caffarro are also portaling. I liked their lineup if they had held onto those players. But they didn't. Beekman may see the writing on the wall and wonder if another season in college is his best path forward.

[CDu]

According to the algorithm that is Jon Rothstein, UVA's Reece Beekman has put his name into the draft while maintaining his eligibility.

https://twitter.com/jonrothstein/sta...7n3qJnQMsoRZcQ

Suffice it to say, losing Beekman would be a disaster for UVA next season. They already lose a ton with the players that have aged out. They also lost promising redshirt FR F Isaac Traudt to the transfer portal, presumably to move closer to home. Kadin Shedrick and Francisco Caffarro are also portaling. I liked their lineup if they had held onto those players. But they didn't. Beekman may see the writing on the wall and wonder if another season in college is his best path forward.

Yeah, UVa has already been decimated by eligibility expiration (Gardner and Clark) and transfer. If they lose Beekman, it's going to be a lot of hard work for Bennett on the transfer portal to recover. Even still, it's going to be pretty tough sledding as he has lost all his bigs.