An NBA draft decision had to be made on Wednesday by 11:59 p.m. for college basketball players looking to retain their remaining eligibility, and this year it was tougher than ever before.
The deadline to withdraw from the 2025 NBA draft and play college basketball this season came and went, and more of the still-nascent effects from all the money being introduced into the environment are beginning to come into focus. There were still surprising calls made to stay in the NBA draft (or stay in school for another year), and now they came with the additional pressure of millions of dollars in potential name, image and likeness compensation and the expected implementation of revenue sharing looming over everything.
From all this, notable developments and trends appear to be emerging. College leagues and teams brought back or lost potential star players. The NBA, meanwhile, now knows exactly what players are available to be taken in next month’s draft class, and what might be looming in years to come with all the change occurring in college basketball.
There’s a lot to sort through, with the NBA draft looming as another flash point during a landscape-shifting offseason in college basketball. Here’s a breakdown of all the winners and losers coming out of the college withdrawal deadline for the 2025 NBA draft:
Winners: SEC basketball
The SEC is coming off a season in which it got a record 14 teams into the NCAA Tournament and produced the national champion (Florida), and the league is going to be loaded again after some of the decisions made over the past week. The Gators will be threats to repeat after adding Arkansas transfer Boogie Fland and bringing back center Alex Condon from the draft pool.
Auburn also got guard Tahaad Pettiford back in the fold after he impressed NBA scouts and Kentucky got late word that guard Otega Oweh would be returning to school. Alabama then pulled off a last-minute surprise Wednesday night when guard Labaron Philon elected to return to college for another year despite being a potential first-round pick.
Loser: Arkansas
Arkansas is about the only SEC team that can complain about how this all went down. John Calipari’s roster took a hit over the past few weeks. Boogie Fland transferred to SEC rival Florida and then Adou Thiero elected to stay in the draft. Calipari’s streak of first-round picks could be in jeopardy of coming to an end, though Thiero’s decision suggests he could go among the first 30 picks. Calipari has produced a player selected in the first round during every NBA draft since Derrick Rose in 2008. Arkansas did get Karter Knox back after he tested the draft waters and should still be an SEC title contender, but the loss of Thiero and Fland are blows to the Razorbacks’ chances in Calipari’s second season.
Winners: Cedric Coward and Yanic Konan Niederhauser
Penn State’s Yanic Konan Niederhauser, meanwhile, turned down the chance to be the best player on a Big Ten team to stay in the draft after an impressive showing at the G League Elite Camp led to an invite to the NBA draft combine earlier this month. The 7-foot center from Switzerland began his college career at Northern Illinois before transferring to Penn State and averaging 12.9 points and 6.3 rebounds during his lone season in Happy Valley. He and Coward will both be interesting prospects to monitor given their unorthodox rise up draft boards.
Loser: NBA rookie contracts
The allure of being picked in the NBA draft just isn’t the same in 2025, not when colleges are doling out millions in NIL packages to prospects and revenue sharing is expected to go into effect this fall. Players such as Yaxel Landeborg (Michigan), Darrion Williams (North Carolina State) and PJ Haggerty (Kansas State) all eschewed the NBA for the transfer portal, while potential picks like Tahaad Pettiford (Auburn), guard Milos Uzan (Houston) and Miles Byrd (San Diego State) chose to return to their previous destination with the guaranteed money waiting for them in college. The NBA’s G League rosters will be most affected by this change.
Winners: International prospects
It’s a good time to be an international basketball prospect. More are coming to the United States to play college basketball because of the money associated with NIL deals. And more are likely to be selected in this year’s NBA draft, especially in the second round when the pool of prospects thinned out by the number of veteran college players who decided to stay in college with NIL compensation and revenue sharing set to begin this season. They also have until June 15 to withdraw from the NBA draft and can still go the college route.
Losers: College teams still looking for a transfer portal star
College teams still in search of an impact player for their roster are going to have to look a little harder after this week. St. John’s guard R.J. Luis and Florida State wing Jamir Watkins, considered the two best remaining uncommitted transfer portal options, both elected to stay in the NBA draft late Wednesday night. It means, of the top 50 players on the On3.com transfer portal rankings, just two players are still available.
