Louisville wins, Tennessee loses at withdrawal deadline
The early-entry withdrawal deadline for the NBA draft expired last week, shaking up the super-early college basketball preseason top 25 rankings and providing a clearer 2019-20 picture heading into the summer.
USA TODAY examines the college teams that won big and lost big from key departures or returnees.
Winners
Louisville: The Cardinals got perhaps the country’s biggest returnee in Jordan Nwora, a projected first-rounder who was unable to compete in the draft combine due to an injury. Nwora averaged 17 points as a sophomore, and his return gives second-year coach Chris Mack a top-10 team poised to compete for an Atlantic Coast Conference title. Stephen Enoch is also back.
Kentucky: Whenever coach John Calipari gets anyone back, it’s a bonus. While he lost PJ Washington, Keldon Johnson and Tyler Herro to the draft, he returns key contributors Ashton Hagans, Nick Richards and EJ Montgomery to join a top-five freshman class and elite grad transfer Nate Sestina (Bucknell).
Virginia: Mamadi Diakite, the Cavaliers’ hero in the Elite Eight against Purdue, was the last undecided player in the early-entry list to announce his return. Now coach Tony Bennett gets two key pieces (Diakite and Kihei Clark) back from his national championship team. They’ll be key cogs in his system.
Maryland: Anthony Cowan Jr.’s return, while expected, makes the Terrapins a top-15 team for a youth-laden group poised to blossom. Bruno Fernando’s departure was always expected. Jalen Smith, another NBA-caliber talent, is also back.
Seton Hall: There was a slim chance Myles Powell (23.1 points) kept his name in the draft, but his decision was one that determines whether the Pirates are top-10 or top-40 good. He returns as one of the best scorers in the country and a likely preseason All-American.
Losers
Tennessee: Coach Rick Barnes was rewarded for spurning UCLA and returning to the Volunteers, who have a seemingly bare roster in need of a rebuild. Losing two-time Southeastern Conference player of the year Grant Williams was somewhat expected, but couple that with the unexpected loss of Jordan Bone (who had a stellar combine), and now the Vols have just one starter coming back from a Sweet 16 squad.
Michigan: The Wolverines lost their longtime coach: John Beilein left for the Cavaliers. They also lost their leading scorer in sophomore Ignas Brazdeikis, who kept his name in the draft. That leaves new coach Juwan Howard with much less of a top-10 team than the one Beilein expected back in April.
Memphis: Coach Penny Hardaway’s recruiting prowess — the Tigers have an elite freshman class — makes any losses less meaningful, but they are losses. After losing out on RJ Hampton (the topfive player decided to play professionally in New Zealand), Little Rock grad transfer Rayjon Tucker kept his name in the draft. This hurts, because a proven Division I scorer like Tucker would have provided experience and leadership.
Kansas: Coach Bill Self and his staff were expecting Quentin Grimes to stay in the draft, but his return would have been a huge boost, given how he started to peak near the end of 2018-19. Grimes passed on both the NBA and a return to Lawrence, joining the transfer portal. Still, Self gets point guard Devon Dotson back, alongside now-eligible Silvio De Sousa and healthy Udoka Azubuike.
Auburn: The Tigers were already losing Bryce Brown to graduation. The NBA departure of Jared Harper from a surprise Final Four team puts coach Bruce Pearl back to the drawing board.