Several of the top international prospects among this year’s early entrants have decided to keep their names in this year’s draft pool.
Noa Essengue, Joan Beringer, Hugo Gonzalez, Nolan Traore, Ben Saraf, Noah Penda, Hansen Yang, Alex Toohey, Bogoljub Markovic, Rocco Zikarsky, Izan Almansa, Saliou Niang, Mohamed Diawara, and Eli Ndiaye are all staying in the 2025 NBA draft, reports ESPN’s Jonathan Givony (via Twitter).
That player group represents 14 of the 15 international players who were ranked on ESPN’s top-100 prospect board coming into the day, with Essengue the highest-ranked prospect at No. 9, and Ndiaye the lowest at No. 97. The lone ranked prospect to withdraw from the draft today was Neoklis Avdalas, ranked No. 51.
While their withdrawals from the draft haven’t been officially confirmed, it sounds like Asim Djulovic, Lazar Gacic, Muodubem Muoneke, Ousmane N’Diaye, and Zaion Nebot also pulled out, since Givony refers to the above list as the “final tally” of international prospects in the draft.
[RELATED: 2025 NBA Draft Early Entrants List]
Dink Pate, who played for the Mexico City Capitanes in the G League this past season, is also keeping his name in the draft pool, Givony notes. Pate is the No. 56 prospect on ESPN’s board.
With a bigger-than-usual amount of lower-ranked NCAA prospects returning to school thanks to NIL deals, the international class has a chance to gain ground with strong pre-draft showings. Essengue, in particular, has seen his draft stock rise following a strong playoff run for Ratiopharm Ulm.