Alabama forward Amari Allen revealed on Twitter that he will withdraw from the draft and play another season for the Crimson Tide. Allen’s announcement included a graphic stating “I’m back” and a 55-second highlight reel.
The 20-year-old earned a spot on the SEC’s All-Freshman Team with a solid performance during his first college season. He averaged 11.4 points, 6.9 rebounds and 3.1 assists in 32 games (24 starts) while shooting 44.6% from the field and 34.1% from three-point range.
Allen announced in April that he planned to test the draft waters without giving up his NCAA eligibility. He was invited to the draft combine earlier this month and was measured at slightly above 6’5″, well below his listed height of 6’8″, which may have influenced his decision to return to school.
Allen ranked 29th on ESPN’s big board of the top 100 draft prospects, which was last updated before the combine began. ESPN’s Jeremy Woo projected Allen to go to Memphis with the 32nd pick in his most recent mock draft. It likely made more financial sense for Allen to play another year at Alabama and try to boost his draft outlook for 2027.
Allen had pre-draft workouts with the Grizzlies, Knicks, Thunder and Heat, according to Emilee Smarr of The Tuscaloosa News.
I got yelled at for saying the 2027 draft was going to be a good one and yall jumped at me…but all these 2026 guys are deflecting to 2027 now, so by proxy 2027 will be just as strong.
Why do you guys care so much what others think in here. 95% of the people in here are basketball brain dead…