Koa Peat, Henri Veesaar Among Players Entering Draft
Arizona freshman forward Koa Peat has declared for the 2026 NBA draft, formally announcing his decision on social media (Instagram link).
A 6’8″ forward, Peat earned a spot on the All-Big 12 third team and the conference’s All-Freshman team after averaging 14.1 points, 5.6 rebounds, and 2.6 assists in 27.8 minutes per game across 36 outings (all starts) in 2025/26. The 19-year-old made 52.8% of his field goal attempts, though he wasn’t much of a threat from beyond the arc (7-of-20) and hit just 62.3% of his free throws.
Peat scored at least 14 points in all five of the Wildcats’ games in the NCAA tournament and had a double-double (16 points, 11 rebounds) in the Final Four loss to Michigan, though he converted just 6-of-18 shots from the floor in that game.
Peat is considered a probable first-round pick, ranking 21st on ESPN’s big board and coming in at No. 22 in Bleacher Report’s most recent mock draft. According to Jeremy Woo of ESPN, NBA scouts like Peat’s physicality, toughness, and defensive IQ, but aren’t sure how his offensive game will translate to the NBA.
Here are more updates on draft decisions ahead of Friday night’s deadline for early entrants:
- Duke guard/forward Dame Sarr, the No. 31 player on ESPN’s top-100 list, will return to school for his sophomore season rather than testing the draft waters, according to the Blue Devils (Twitter link). Sarr averaged 6.4 PPG and 3.8 RPG in 38 games (30 starts) as a freshman while earning a place on the ACC’s All-Defensive team.
- Estonian center Henri Veesaar had one more year of college eligibility remaining, but he intends to enter the draft and go pro, reports Matt Norlander of CBS Sports (Twitter link). Veesaar spent three seasons, including one redshirt year, at Arizona before playing for UNC in 2025/26. He had a breakout year for the Tar Heels, averaging 17.0 PPG, 8.7 RPG, 2.1 APG, and 1.2 BPG on .608/.426/.615 shooting, and is the No. 45 player on ESPN’s board.
- Alba Berlin point guard Jack Kayil and KK Mega Basket center Pavle Backo are entering their names in the 2026 draft, their respective agents tell Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress (Twitter links). As Givony points out, Kayil has already committed to Gonzaga for the 2026/27 season but the German guard is testing the NBA draft waters as well.
- After spending his first three college seasons at Drexel, guard Shane Blakeney is declaring for the NBA draft while maintaining his final year of NCAA eligibility, agent Kevin Martin announced (via Instagram). If Blakeney withdraws from the draft pool, the plan is for him to transfer to South Carolina, as the Gamecocks officially confirmed (Twitter link).
Draft Notes: 2026 Mock, Big Board, Yessoufou, More
Kansas guard Darryn Peterson goes No. 1 overall in the first 2026 mock draft conducted by Sam Vecenie of The Athletic. Peterson, BYU wing AJ Dybantsa (No. 2 in the mock) and Duke power forward Cameron Boozer (No. 3) are widely viewed as the top three prospects in the 2026 class, and Vecenie views each player as having star-level upside on the same level as 2025’s top pick, Cooper Flagg.
While NBA teams are eager to land Peterson, Dybantsa or Boozer, the overall depth of the class is somewhat shaky, according to Vecenie, who says prospects currently in the Nos. 4-16 range all have at least one question mark scouts want answered during the season.
There’s also a significant amount of variability beginning at No. 17 (Florida’s Thomas Haugh), Vecenie writes, and it’s possible players currently mocked outside of the lottery could move up — or they may not even be drafted next June.
As Vecenie details, the 2027 draft class is viewed as being considerably weaker than 2026, which could lead to more NBA teams tanking down the stretch of 2025/26 to try and acquire one of the top prospects, particularly if a few players rise up draft boards in the spring, which seems to happen every year.
It’s only November, but four Houston Cougars — Chris Cenac Jr. at No. 6, Isiah Harwell at No. 18, Joseph Tugler at No. 21, and Milos Uzan at No. 27 — go in the first round of Vecenie’s mock.
Here are some more notes on the 2026 draft class:
- Jeremy Woo of ESPN.com has released his first big board for 2026, ranking the top 100 prospects. The first four players (Tennessee forward Nate Ament is No. 4) are in the same order as Vecenie’s mock, but there’s a major difference in evaluation starting at No. 5 — Woo has North Carolina big man Caleb Wilson at that spot, while Vecenie has the freshman forward going No. 16. Duke forward Dame Sarr (No. 10 on Woo’s board, No. 25 in Vecenie’s mock), New Zealand Breakers forward Karim Lopez (No. 11 at ESPN, No. 24 at The Athletic), Alabama guard Labaron Philon (No. 18 for Woo, No. 10 for Vecenie), Arkansas wing Karter Knox (No. 38 for ESPN, No. 19 for The Athletic), Harwell (No. 45 on Woo’s board) and Uzan (No. 55 on ESPN) are among the other players rated quite differently between ESPN’s big board and The Athletic’s mock.
- Baylor guard/forward Tounde Yessoufou, who goes ninth overall in Vecenie’s mock and is ranked 13th on Woo’s board, is expected to become the first player born in the West African country of Benin to make the NBA, per Marc J. Spears of Andscape. “What makes him a little different than some of the other freshmen we’ve had here is he’s very similar to [San Antonio Spurs forward] Jeremy Sochan, a great defender who could guard multiple positions,” Baylor head coach Scott Drew said of Tounde, who is 6’5″ and 215 pounds. “Tounde is somebody physically that can guard multiple positions and wants to be an elite defender and is a tremendous rebounder for his size. That makes him a little different from the other people in his draft class. He has a little more physicality to him than some of the guys we’ve had in recent years because he’s bigger, stronger.”
- Jeff Borezllo and Woo of ESPN list the 10 college teams with the most NBA prospects, with Duke (five players in the top 34 of Woo’s board) at No. 1 and Houston No. 2.
International Notes: Bogdanovic, EuroLeague, Asia, Sarr
The No. 27 pick in the 2014 NBA draft, Bogdan Bogdanovic spent three more seasons playing in Europe before making the move stateside in 2017. The veteran swingman has been in the NBA since then, but told reporters at the EuroLeague Final Four this week that he could see himself playing overseas again before his career is over.
“I had that goal when I was leaving (for the NBA), but I’ll see how my health is later in my career,” Bogdanovic said, per Edvinas Jablonskis of BasketNews. “I want to come back, of course, but I have to stay healthy. … I miss it because I’m closer to my friends and family (in Europe). That’s what I miss most. Competition as well, but friends and family first, honestly.”
Bogdanovic, who finished the 2024/25 season with the Clippers following a midseason trade from Atlanta to Los Angeles, added that he’s looking forward to representing Serbia in EuroBasket 2025 and is “optimistic” that Nuggets star Nikola Jokic will participate in the tournament.
“I feel like we have a good opportunity (to win the gold). We can’t hide,” Bogdanovic said, according to Antonis Stroggylakis of Eurohoops. “That’s it. We’re going for gold. All those years we’re building something. It’s progress. A process. Hopefully, we’ll stay healthy and we show up healthy and ready to go.”
Here are a few more items of interest from around the international basketball world:
- The EuroLeague is expected to expand from 18 to 20 teams beginning next season, according to reports from Donatas Urbonas of BasketNews and Alessandro Maggi of Sportando (Twitter link). Hapoel Tel Aviv, Dubai BC, and Valencia are the favorites to join the league next season, with ALBA Berlin exiting, according to Urbonas. In addition to working on expansion, EuroLeague officials are expected to meet with the NBA and FIBA next week about the NBA’s own European league.
- What exactly is the Asian University Basketball League? Myron Medcalf of ESPN.com takes a closer look at the college basketball organization launching this summer in Asia and speaks to AUBL CEO Jay Li about his goal of finding and developing the next NBA star from the continent. “We are not just an Asian basketball league,” Li said. “We could be the centerpiece of youth talent development for the entire world when it comes to developing Asia’s next Yao Ming, Asia’s next Jeremy Lin.”
- Dame Sarr, a 6’8″ wing from Italy, has committed to Duke for the 2025/26 season, he tells Jonathan Givony of ESPN. Sarr, who has spent the past two seasons playing for Barcelona in Spain, had a big game at last month’s Nike Hoop Summit, establishing himself as a potential 2026 first-round pick to watch. “My ultimate goal is to play in the NBA,” Sarr told ESPN. “There’s no better place to prepare you for that than Duke. For me to be as NBA-ready as possible, and become the best version of myself, I needed to have both experiences — playing for a pro team like Barcelona, and playing in a different type of professional environment like Duke against other players my age. Opportunity, minutes, repetition — this route is the best next step for me at this time.”