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Draft Notes: Sanogo, Withdrawals, Hornets, Magic, Thunder, Sensabaugh

May 31st, 2023 at 10:00am CST by Luke Adams

UConn big man Adama Sanogo will be keeping his name in the draft and leaving the Huskies following a wildly successful junior year, sources tell Jon Rothstein of CBS Sports (Twitter link). Sanogo averaged 17.2 PPG and 7.7 RPG for UConn in 2022/23 and was named the Most Outstanding Player of the NCAA tournament, which culminated with a Huskies championship.

Sanogo isn’t necessarily viewed as a top prospect, but he has improved his stock so far during the pre-draft process and currently comes in as the No. 70 player on ESPN’s big board, making him a legitimate candidate to hear his name called on June 22.

Here are a few more draft-related updates:

While Sanogo won’t return to UConn, the defending champions will get one more year from guard Tristen Newton, who will run it back for the 2023/24 season, according to an announcement from the school (Twitter link). Newton averaged 10.1 PPG, 4.7 APG, and 4.5 RPG in 39 games (28.8 MPG) for UConn in 2022/23.
St. John’s guard Jordan Dingle, Hampton wing Jordan Nesbitt, and UC-Davis guard Elijah Pepper are withdrawing from the draft, according to Jon Rothstein of CBS Sports (all Twitter links). Pepper is taking advantage of his extra year of NCAA eligibility due to the COVID-19 season, while Dingle and Nesbitt are underclassmen with multiple years remaining. Dingle is transferring from Penn to St. John’s.
Kansas State forward Nae’Qwan Tomlin is also pulling his name out of the draft and will return to school for one more year, tweets Jeff Goodman of Stadium.
The latest ESPN mock draft from Jonathan Givony and Jeremy Woo (Insider link) includes several interesting tidbits. Among them: Alabama’s Brandon Miller will visit the Hornets on June 10; Scoot Henderson views both the Hornets and Trail Blazers situations as appealing; there’s speculation after Houston’s Jarace Walker called off his pro day appearance that a team opted to “shut him down”; there’s some chatter that the Magic may not hang onto both of their lottery picks (Nos. 6 and 11); and a number of rival executives believe the Thunder could dangle future draft assets in an effort to move up from No. 12.
Givony also reports within ESPN’s newest mock draft that Ohio State forward Brice Sensabaugh underwent surgery after the college season to address a knee issue and hasn’t been able to take part in competitive team workouts.

Kansas’ Jalen Wilson Among Draft’s Latest Early Entrants

April 6th, 2023 at 12:20pm CST by Rory Maher

Kansas forward Jalen Wilson has declared for the 2023 NBA draft, he announced on social media (Twitter video link). Wilson didn’t say anything about maintaining his eligibility, so we’re assuming he plans to stay in the draft and hire an agent.

Wilson was a redshirt junior, so he technically had two years of college eligibility left. However, the reigning Big 12 Player of the Year is a projected second-round pick, currently No. 51 on ESPN’s big board, and clearly he likes his chances of making it to the NBA.

Wilson, who helped the Jayhawks win a national championship in 2022, led the team in scoring (20.1 PPG) and rebounding (8.3 RPG) during his standout junior season, in which he was also named first-team All-American. Kansas was a No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament, but fell in the second round to Arkansas.

The 22-year-old joins teammate Gradey Dick — a potential lottery pick — as Jayhawks who have declared for the draft.

Here are a few more college players who are entering the draft:

Oklahoma guard Grant Sherfield, who had previous stops at Wichita State and Nevada, has declared for the draft (Instagram link). As with Wilson, Sherfield didn’t say anything about maintaining his eligibility (he had one year left due to COVID), so we’re assuming he’s going pro. As a senior for the Sooners, Sherfield averaged 15.9 points, 2.5 rebounds and 3.3 assists on .403/.394/.863 shooting in 32 games (33.7 minutes per contest).
UC-Davis guard Elijah Pepper, who earned All-Big West honors each of the past three seasons, is entering his name in the draft while maintaining his college eligibility, he announced on Twitter. Pepper had a productive senior season for the Aggies, averaging 22.5 points, 5.9 rebounds, 3.4 assists and 1.6 steals on .449/.322/.816 shooting in 31 games (35.5 minutes).
Tulane’s Sion James, a junior guard, is also testing the draft waters while maintaining his eligibility, he announced via Instagram. James put up 9.7 points, 4.8 rebounds, 3.4 assists and 2.0 steals on .483/.317/.710 shooting in 31 games (37.1 minutes) for the Green Wave in 2022/23.