Santa Clara standout Allen Graves has decided to keep his name in the 2026 NBA draft, forgoing his remaining NCAA eligibility in order to go pro, he tells Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress (Twitter link).
Graves only started four of 35 games during his first and only college season, but he was a valuable reserve for the Broncos, averaging 11.8 points, 6.5 rebounds, 1.9 steals, and 1.8 assists in 22.6 minutes per contest. The 19-year-old also had a solid shooting line of .512/.413/.750 and won a pair of awards, having been named the WCC’s Freshman of the Year and Sixth Man of the Year.
While Graves wasn’t necessarily viewed as a first-round lock at the time he declared for the draft, he has improved his stock during the pre-draft process – despite displaying underwhelming athleticism during combine testing – and now looks like a safer bet to come off the board within the first 30 picks. Graves is an analytics darling who is said to have a good feel for the game.
In their most recent mock drafts, ESPN’s Jeremy Woo had Graves at No. 22, Jonathan Wasserman of Bleacher Report placed him at No. 27, and Kevin O’Connor of Yahoo Sports had him at No. 25.
Reporting earlier this month indicated that Graves, who also entered the NCAA transfer portal this spring, was focusing more on the pre-draft process than on lining up a new school. He had conversations with LSU and Duke, but the sense at the time was that he would remain in the draft as long as he felt confident about being a first-round pick.
As we outlined earlier this afternoon, NCAA early entrants have until the end of the day on Wednesday to decide whether or not to go pro. The NBA’s own deadline for early entrants isn’t until June 13, but in order to retain his NCAA eligibility, a player must withdraw today or tomorrow.
Hey Marvin Williams went second overall as a college back up, maybe he can too!