NCAA: Top returning players after early entry withdrawal deadline
The early entry withdrawal deadline passed on Wednesday, and several of the top prospects opted against staying in the NBA draft and returned to their respective schools.
The pre-draft process serves as a tremendous opportunity for underclassmen to get their foot in the door with teams and gain valuable feedback on how they can improve their games. Several players in recent memory have used the process to their advantage and come back the following year even better.
Teams now know which underclassmen will stay in the draft and who will play at least one more season in college. The deadline this year offered some drama. Several individuals took the decision all the way up until the final hour on Wednesday. The decision is certainly an important one and prospects used all of their allotted time to best serve their situation.
With the early entry period now over, Rookie Wire took a look at the top returning players to college basketball for next season who had declared for the draft and tested the pre-draft process.
Note: Those players that did not declare for the draft, such as Armando Bacot or Oscar Tshiebwe, were not included on this list. Players were ordered based on their pre-draft stock.
Terquavion Smith, N.C. State
AP Photo/Gerry Broome
Class Next Season: Sophomore
Drew Timme, Gonzaga
Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports
Class Next Season: Senior
Harrison Ingram, Stanford
Stan Szeto-USA TODAY Sports
Class Next Season: Sophomore
Julian Strawther, Gonzaga
Soobum Im-USA TODAY Sports
Class Next Season: Junior
Marcus Sasser, Houston
AP Photo/Justin Rex
Class Next Season: Senior
Tyler Burton, Richmond
Gregory Fisher-USA TODAY Sports
Class Next Season: Senior
Jalen Wilson, Kansas
Robert Deutsch-USA TODAY Sports
Class Next Season: Senior
Matthew Mayer, Illinois (Transfer)
Chris Jones-USA TODAY Sports
Class Next Season: Senior (fifth year)
Trayce Jackson-Davis, Indiana
Soobum Im-USA TODAY Sports
Class Next Season: Senior
Baylor Scheierman, Creighton (Transfer)
Gregory Fisher-USA TODAY Sports
Class Next Season: Senior
Max Abmas, Oral Roberts
Trevor Ruszkowski-USA TODAY Sports
Class Next Season: Senior
Keion Brooks, Kentucky
Trevor Ruszkowski-USA TODAY Sports
Class Next Season: Senior
Kevin McCullar, Kansas (Transfer)
Orlando Ramirez-USA TODAY Sports
Class Next Season: Senior
Mouhamed Gueye, Washington State*
James Snook-USA TODAY Sports
Class Next Season: Sophomore
*Currently in transfer portal
Allen Flanigan, Auburn
Bob Donnan-USA TODAY Sports
Class Next Season: Senior
