By Aidan Joly
As the calendar turned from May to June, so did the midnight deadline for early entrants in the 2023 NBA Draft to either stay in the draft or withdraw and return to college.
The news centered around the big men (get it?). The past two National Players of the Year, Oscar Tschiebwe and Zach Edey, took their decisions right down to the wire. They ended up going down different paths, decisions that will have opposite effects on Kentucky and Purdue. We’ll get into that in a little bit.
NIL played a role in the day too. The big example of that is Illinois reportedly increasing an offer to big man Coleman Hawkins in an effort to get him to stay, leading to Hawkins making a last-minute decision.
It’s important to remember that only first-round picks are guaranteed contracts in the NBA, so the option of being paid to stay in college has become a much more enticing option – especially so when a veteran player could probably make more NIL money than they would with a professional salary.
So, what are the big takeaways from the day. Let’s get into it.
Zach Edey’s return
This was perhaps the biggest domino of the day, as the reigning National Player of the Year will stay with the Boilermakers. Everything the team does right now runs through the 7-foot-4 monster. This return makes Purdue a top-10 team going into the season and likely to earn a top seed in the NCAA tournament. Edey will be the face of the sport this season, too.
Of course, the Boilermakers will have to deal with the ghosts of Fairleigh Dickinson, but what happened last time a 1 seed lost to a 16?
UConn loses major pieces
The defending national champions didn’t have as good of a day, losing Final Four Most Outstanding Player Adama Sanogo as well as Andre Jackson, the Huskies’ do-everything guard who was perhaps its most important player down the stretch.
Donovan Clingan is solid and is ready to step into that role, but it’s objectively fair to say that he is a downgrade from Sanogo. Elsewhere, Jackson was in a real swing position as it could go either way for him in the first or second round. He’s taking a chance on himself here.
All wasn’t lost though as Tristen Newton announced that he would return for a fifth season in Storrs. Despite that, the Huskies got worse on Wednesday.
Concerns with Kentucky
This has been a theme for a few years now, having general concerns with Kentucky and John Calipari. The Wildcats do bring in the top recruiting class, but that is the only thing keeping this offseason from being a total disaster.
Kentucky has lost four players to the transfer portal, and then lost Tschiebwe and Chris Livingston to the draft on Wednesday. On top of that, Jacob Toppin left the program in March, and rumors continue to swirl that Antonio Reeves may enter the portal.
Now, Kentucky only has seven scholarships players on the roster and none of them were in the regular rotation in 2022-23. Calipari will have to rely on freshmen this year, which hasn’t gone as well the past couple years. With this year’s class being relatively weak by comparison, that’s going to be a problem.
Tschiebwe didn’t have much to gain by staying in college, he’s maxed out what he can do in four years. However, losing Livingston and potentially Reeves really hurts.
Villanova’s big splashes
Kyle Neptune has proven to be a menace in the transfer portal this spring and grabbed another big name on Wednesday after Richmond transfer Tyler Burton elected to come back to school and head to Philadelphia.
Year one under Neptune was injury-plagued and didn’t go well. Now, between getting Burton, Maryland transfer Hakim Hart, who also elected to come back to school, Washington State’s TJ Bamba and Kentucky’s Lance Ware, Neptune has crushed it this offseason. The Wildcats are well-positioned for a bounce-back 2023-24 with a top-25 roster.
Good day for Illinois
The Illini and Brad Underwood were one of the biggest winners of the day, too. As brought up before, Hawkins as well as Terrence Shannon kept us waiting until late into the night. But, they both announced their returns, Hawkins after reportedly receiving an increased NIL offer to stay in Champaign.
It’s a big deal for Illinois, which now returns three of its top four scorers from last year. It gives the Illini the guys to hang with the best teams in the Big Ten.
FAU a big winner
Sure, Johnell Davis and Alijah Martin weren’t expected to be drafted, so their respective returns don’t come as much of a surprise. However, in the past after historic runs like FAU’s run to the Final Four, guys who were on the fringe would leave at a higher rate, figuring their stock might not be as high in a year.
That being said, the return of this duo guarantees that FAU will return essentially the same team that went to the Final Four, outside of the graduation of Michael Forrest.
The Owls have the tools to hang around in the top 10 all season and will look to prove that last year wasn’t a fluke.
AJ Hoops 