Seven More NCAA Early Entrants Withdrew From Draft
Seven more early entrants who had been testing the NBA draft waters this spring decided prior to the NCAA’s withdrawal deadline on Wednesday to remove their names from consideration and will return to college, reports Jon Chepkevich of DraftExpress (Twitter link).
Those players, along with their 2025/26 schools, are as follows:
- Kennard Davis, G/F, BYU (junior)
- Keanu Dawes, F, Utah (junior)
- Gabe Dynes, C, USC (junior)
- Eian Elmer, F, Miami (OH) (junior)
- Louis Hutchinson, G/F, Alabama A&M (junior)
- Sebastian Rancik, F, Colorado (sophomore)
- LeJuan Watts, F, Texas Tech (junior)
At least six of these prospects will be transferring to new schools for the 2026/27 season, Chepkevich notes, with Davis headed to Missouri, Dawes going to Kansas, Dynes on his way to Louisville, Elmer joining Wisconsin, Rancik committed to Florida State, and Watts set to suit up for Washington.
Hutchinson, who has played for four programs since 2022, is still in the transfer portal, per Chepkevich, so he’ll likely move on to a new school as well.
These seven players, none of whom were on ESPN’s top-100 list for 2026, were the only NCAA early entrants whose draft plans hadn’t been announced or reported. As our tracker shows, there are now 26 college early entrants expected to remain in the draft pool, while 34 reportedly withdrew by 11:59 pm ET on Wednesday. Our data isn’t official, so we’ll wait for confirmation from the NBA to be certain that those lists are accurate.
With the NCAA withdrawal deadline behind us, the next big draft-related date to watch is June 13, which is the NBA’s withdrawal deadline. The 11 international prospects who declared for the draft will have until that Saturday to decide whether to keep their names in or pull out.
Tounde Yessoufou Withdraws From Draft, Transferring To St. John’s
Ahead of Wednesday night’s withdrawal deadline, potential first-round pick Tounde Yessoufou opted to remove his name from the 2026 NBA draft, according to Shams Charania of ESPN (Twitter link).
Yessoufou’s agency tells Charania that the former Baylor guard, who will be entering his sophomore season, has committed to play for Rick Pitino at St. John’s in 2026/27.
A 6’5″ wing, Yessoufou had an impressive freshman year for the Bears, averaging 17.8 points, 5.9 rebounds, 2.0 steals, and 1.6 assists in 32.6 minutes per game across 34 outings (all starts). He struggled with his three-point shot (29.3%) but posted respectable field goal (46.5%) and free throw (74.6%) percentages.
While Yessoufou was a candidate to come off the board in the first 30 picks next month, he wasn’t a lock to do so. Jonathan Wassmeran of Bleacher Report had the 20-year-old being picked 28th overall in his most recent mock draft, but Kevin O’Connor of Yahoo Sports had him at No. 31 and ESPN’s Jeremy Woo had him at No. 34. Assuming he takes a step forward as a sophomore, Yessoufou should strengthen his case to be a first-rounder in 2027.
Yessoufou was one of two notable prospects whose draft decision had yet to be reported when Wednesday’s midnight deadline for NCAA withdrawals passed. The other was Arkansas guard Meleek Thomas, the No. 25 prospect on ESPN’s big board, whose intentions still haven’t been confirmed one way or the other.
[UPDATE: Meleek Thomas Remains In NBA Draft]
As our tracker shows, there are at least seven other college early entrants whose decisions have yet to be announced or reported, but Kennard Davis, Keanu Dawes, Gabe Dynes, Eian Elmer, Louis Hutchinson, Sebastian Rancik, and LeJuan Watts don’t show up on ESPN’s top-100 list, so if they withdraw, it’s unlikely to have a significant impact on teams’ draft plans.
[UPDATE: Seven More NCAA Early Entrants Withdrew From Draft]
Typically, the NBA provides an update shortly after the NCAA withdrawal deadline on which players have removed their names from the draft pool. The NBA’s own withdrawal deadline, which is more relevant for international players, is on June 13.
Draft Notes: Allen, Ngongba, Samodurov, Suigo, Dawes
Following his freshman year at Alabama, forward Amari Allen will test the NBA draft waters while maintaining his NCAA eligibility, he announced on Instagram.
Allen is viewed as a possible first-round pick — he currently ranks 29th on ESPN’s big board, while Jonathan Wasserman of Bleacher Report had him all the way up at No. 18 in his post-NCAA tournament mock draft. The 6’8″ wing is said to have good positional size and versatility and is considered a solid passer and shooter. Although he made just 1-of-16 three-pointers during SEC and NCAA tournaments, he had made 37.7% of 4.4 tries per game in 28 regular season outings before that.
In 32 total games, including 24 starts, Allen averaged 11.4 points, 6.9 rebounds, and 3.1 assists in 28.2 minutes per contest, earning a spot on the All-SEC Freshman team.
Here are a few more draft-related notes:
- Duke’s Patrick Ngongba had been considered a possible first-round pick, but he’ll be returning to the Blue Devils for his junior season, according to the school (Twitter link). The big man emerged as Duke’s starting center in his sophomore year, averaging 10.1 PPG, 5.8 RPG, and 2.0 APG in 32 games (21.9 MPG). ESPN’s Jeremy Woo previously noted that some evaluators believed Ngongba wasn’t ready for the NBA’s level of physicality and would benefit from another year in college.
- Alex Samodurov, a 21-year-old power forward who plays for the Greek team Panathinaikos, is declaring for the 2026 NBA draft, agent Alex Saratsis tells Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress (Twitter link). According to Givony, Samodurov is also considering the possibility of coming stateside to enroll in a college program. He played a limited role for Panathinaikos in 2025/26, averaging just 6.2 minutes per game in 13 EuroLeague appearances.
- Italian center Luigi Suigo, the No. 41 prospect on ESPN’s board, is still weighing whether to enter the NBA draft or play college basketball, writes Dario Skerletic of Sportando. Illinois, Purdue, Indiana, St. John’s, Duke, and BYU are among the programs that have been linked to Suigo, who is currently playing for KK Mega Basket in Serbia, Skerletic adds.
[UPDATE: Suigo will test the draft waters while continuing to weigh his options, Givony reports (Twitter links). - Junior forward Keanu Dawes is testing the draft waters this spring, according to Givony (Twitter link). Dawes may end up returning to school for his senior year though. After spending the past two years playing for Utah, he entered the transfer portal and has signed with Kansas. In 32 starts last season for the Utes, the 6’9″ forward averaged 12.5 PPG, 8.8 RPG, and 2.2 APG in 30.8 MPG.