Zyon Pullin

Draft Decisions: A. Jackson, Edey, Beekman, More

Andre Jackson Jr., who helped lead Connecticut to a national title, has opted to keep his name in the draft rather than return to the Huskies for another season, writes ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.

Jackson is projected to be taken late in the first round or early in the second round, Wojnarowski adds. The junior shooting guard ranks 32nd on ESPN’s big board and is projected to go to the Pacers with the 32nd pick in the latest mock draft by Jonathan Givony of ESPN.

“My time at UCONN has been filled with ups and downs but through it all I built relationships with my teammates, coaches, friends and fans that will last forever,” Jackson wrote in a Twitter post. “I’ve made so many memories playing in that jersey and I will miss it. But I’ll always be a husky. Thank you.”

Jackson averaged 6.6 points, 5.5 rebounds, 6.8 assists and 1.3 steals in six tournament games and was believed to have raised his draft stock significantly, although questions remain about his outside shooting. He took part in the draft combine and went through individual workouts with several teams, including the Hawks, Celtics, Nets, Pacers and Trail Blazers, according to Wojnarowski.

Dozens of draft decisions were announced Wednesday ahead of the 11:59 pm EDT deadline to return to school without losing eligibility. Most late deciders opted to pull out of the draft, but a few prominent names will remain in the pool. They are:

National Player of the Year Zach Edey will withdraw from the draft and return to Purdue for another year, according to Jeff Borzello of ESPN. The 7’4″ center averaged 22.9 points and 12.9 rebounds as a junior while shooting 60.7% from the field. Even so, his draft status wasn’t certain as he’s No. 47 in the ESPN rankings.

Another prominent player pulling out of the draft is Virginia’s Reece Beekman, the ACC’s reigning Defensive Player of the Year, Givony reports. Beekman hopes to boost his draft stock for 2024 after coming in at 43rd in ESPN’s rankings. “I’ve decided to go back to UVA to work towards being a first-round draft pick next year and finish my degree,” he said.

Here are some more players who decided late Wednesday to take their names out of the draft:

Draft Notes: Clark, Miles, Cryer, Cook, Wahab, Pullin

Following a breakout junior season, UCLA guard Jaylen Clark has decided to declare for the 2023 NBA draft, he announced today on Instagram.

After coming off the bench in 54 of 60 games during his first college seasons, Clark was a full-time starter in 2022/23, averaging 13.0 points, 6.0 rebounds, and 2.6 steals per game in 30 contests (30.5 MPG). More notably, he was named the Defensive Player of the Year for the Pac-12 and was also a member of the All-Pac-12 team.

Clark is currently just outside the top 60 on ESPN’s big board, so he’s no lock to be drafted. He has the option of maintaining his college eligibility while testing the draft waters, but his Instagram statement gives no indication that’s the plan — our assumption for now is that he intends to keep his name in the draft and go pro.

Here are a few more updates on early entrants declaring for the 2023 draft:

  • TCU junior guard Mike Miles, who comes in five spots below Clark on ESPN’s top-100 list, has also declared for the draft, he announced today on Twitter. Miles averaged 17.9 PPG on .497/.362/.749 shooting in 27 games (31.9 MPG) in 2022/23. Like Clark, he doesn’t say anything in his announcement about maintaining his NCAA eligibility through the draft process.
  • Baylor junior guard LJ Cryer will test the draft waters, according to an announcement on Twitter. Cryer won a national title with the Bears in 2021 and became a full-time starter in 2022/23, averaging 15.0 PPG with a .415 3PT% and earning All-Big 12 honors.
  • Tulane junior guard Jalen Cook is entering both the transfer portal and the NBA draft pool, tweets Jonathan Givony of ESPN. Cook is coming off his second consecutive All-AAC season and upped his scoring average to 19.9 PPG.
  • Georgetown senior center Qudus Wahab tells Jon Rothstein of CBS Sports (Twitter link) that he’s entering the draft while maintaining his final year of NCAA eligibility. Wahab spent his first two college seasons at Georgetown, transferred to Maryland for his junior season, then returned to the Hoyas last year.
  • Zyon Pullin, a senior guard at UC-Riverside, is entering the draft after averaging a team-leading 18.3 PPG in 2022/23, he tells Jeff Borzello of ESPN (Twitter link). Pullin, who also tested the draft waters in 2022, is signing with an NCAA-certified agent, so he’ll have the option of withdrawing later this spring.

Pacific Notes: Warriors, Green, Lakers, Kings

Speaking to Jeff Zillgitt of USA Today, Warriors owner Joe Lacob referenced a division rival when he discussed his long-term goals for the franchise.

“We are very goal-oriented,” Lacob said. “Our goal right now is to sustain being really good for a long time. I look at Jerry Buss and the Lakers, and how he owned the team for 33 years and made 16 Finals. That’s just an astonishing achievement, an incredible owner.

“Whether we can sustain that over such a long period of time, like Jerry Buss did – the Celtics certainly had great history but it was a little bit of a different time – I don’t know. But we’re going to try. That’s what we’re trying to do here.”

The Warriors are back in the NBA Finals this year for the sixth time in the last eight seasons, and are seeking their fourth championship during that time.

  • Even though he only appeared in 46 of 82 possible regular season games this season, Warriors forward Draymond Green views it as a “slight” that he didn’t make the All-Defensive First Team, writes Nick Friedell of ESPN. “When I look at the First Team, I am not sure I can pinpoint, definitely not five guys that had a better defensive season than me,” Green said. “And there are no (games-played) requirements. There is not some amount that you have to play in. If there was an amount that you had to play, then I would be an idiot sitting here and saying that.”
  • The Lakers are working out six prospects today, bringing in R.J. Cole (UConn), Jules Bernard (UCLA), Kur Kuath (Marquette), Jaden Shackelford (Alabama), Zyon Pullin (UC-Riverside), and David McCormack (Kansas) for a pre-draft audition, tweets Kyle Goon of The Southern California News Group. Pullin is reportedly expected to remove his name from the draft pool before tonight’s NCAA withdrawal deadline.
  • Houston’s Fabian White Jr. was among the prospects to work out for the Kings on Tuesday, per Sean Cunningham of FOX40 News (Twitter link).

Draft Decisions: J. Lewis, Wong, Flanigan, Pullin, More

Marquette forward Justin Lewis, who entered the draft this spring coming off his sophomore season, has decided to keep his name in the 2022 draft pool, forgoing his remaining NCAA eligibility, reports Jeremy Woo of SI.com (Twitter link).

Lewis enjoyed a breakout year in 2021/22, averaging 16.8 PPG and 7.9 RPG on .440/.349/.761 shooting in 32 games (32.2 MPG) for the Golden Eagles. Lewis comes in at No. 45 on ESPN’s latest big board, though Woo suggests he has a chance to be a first-round pick.

With the NCAA’s withdrawal deadline only about 12 hours away, let’s round up several more of the latest draft decisions made by early entrants

  • Miami guard Isaiah Wong is returning to school for his senior year, he announced today (via Instagram). It’s the second time Wong has tested the draft waters and eventually pulled out, so if he declares again next season, he won’t have the option of withdrawing.
  • Auburn junior wing Allen Flanigan is withdrawing from the draft, while UC-Riverside junior guard Zyon Pullin is expected to do the same, reports Jeff Goodman of Stadium (Twitter links).
  • The following players are withdrawing from the draft, according to Jon Rothstein of CBS Sports (all five are Twitter links): Memphis senior forward DeAndre Williams, senior guard Courtney Ramey, Samford junior guard Ques Glover, senior guard Donald Carey, and Virginia Tech senior forward Justyn Mutts. Ramey, who played for Texas last season, is currently in the transfer portal, while Carey is transferring from Georgetown to Maryland.

NBA Announces Initial Early Entrant List For 2022 Draft

The NBA has officially released the initial list of early entrants for the 2022 NBA draft, announcing in a press release that 283 players have filed as early entry candidates. Of those prospects, 247 are from colleges, while 36 are international early entrants.

Those are big numbers, but they fall well short of the 353 early entrants who initially declared for the draft a year ago. Beginning in 2021, the NCAA granted players an extra year of eligibility due to the coronavirus pandemic, resulting in seniors having to decide between staying at college for one more season or declaring for the draft as an “early” entrant.

That tweak to the NCAA’s eligibility rules has increased the number of total early entrants due to the influx of seniors into the pool. However, as Jonathan Givony of ESPN observes (via Twitter), the number of college non-seniors (123) on the initial early entry list this year is actually the lowest since 2016, while the number of international prospects (36) is the lowest since 2014.

This year’s total of 283 early entrants figures to shrink significantly by June 1 and again by June 13, the two deadlines for players to withdraw their names from the draft pool. But it still looks like the pool will remain extremely crowded, with the eventual number of early entrants certain to exceed 58, the number of picks in the draft.

Our tracker of early entrants for the 2022 draft is fully up to date and can be found right here.

Here are the changes we made to our tracker today:


Newly-added players:

College players:

These players either didn’t publicly announce that they were entering the draft or we simply missed it when they did.

International players:

These players weren’t previously mentioned on our list of international early entrants. The country listed here indicates where they last played, not necessarily where they were born.

Other notable draft-eligible early entrants:

The NBA sent its teams a list of 33 “also-eligible” names. That list isn’t public, but Jonathan Givony of ESPN (Twitter link) shared some of the most notable players on it, and we’ve added them to our early entrant tracker. They are as follows:

  1. Dominick Barlow, F, Overtime Elite
  2. MarJon Beauchamp, G/F, G League Ignite
  3. Dyson Daniels, G, G League Ignite
  4. Henri Drell, G/F, Windy City Bulls
  5. Michael Foster, F, G League Ignite
  6. Jaden Hardy, G, G League Ignite
  7. Makur Maker, C, Sydney Kings (formerly Howard Bison)
  8. Jean Montero, G, Overtime Elite
  9. Samson Ruzhentsev, G/F, Mega Basket (formerly Florida Gators)
  10. Kai Sotto, C, Adelaide 36ers (formerly G League Ignite)
  11. Zaire Wade, G, Salt Lake City Stars
  12. Kok Yat, F, Overtime Elite
  13. Fanbo Zeng, F, G League Ignite

Players removed:

Despite reports or announcements that the players below would declare for the draft, they didn’t show up on the NBA’s official list.

That could mean a number of things — they may have decided against entering the draft; they may have entered the draft, then withdrawn; they may have had no NCAA eligibility remaining, making them automatically draft-eligible; they may have incorrectly filed their paperwork; or the NBA may have accidentally omitted some names.

In any case, we’ve removed the following names from our early entrant list, at least for the time being.

Finally, Givony reports (via Twitter) that Canadian forward Leonard Miller, from the Fort Erie International Academy has been asked to fill out additional paperwork to finalize his entrance into the draft pool. According to Givony, there’s an expectation that Miller will be added to the list, so we’ve left him listed in our early entrant tracker among the international players.