College teams that won -- or lost -- at the NBA draft withdrawal deadline

Two college basketball programs ended up with a mixed bag of 2026 NBA draft withdrawal decisions.

Henri Veesaar made his choice well before the 11:59 p.m. ET deadline Wednesday, closing the door on a return while at the combine earlier this month and forcing newNorth Carolinahead coach Michael Malone to pivot his search for big men overseas. The Tar Heels did get good news when Matt Able, a stock-riser at the combine, opted to withdraw his name and head to Chapel Hill. The NC State transfer has first-round upside in 2027 and gives the top of Carolina's roster enough talent to push for the top 25.

Arkansasalso had two players with stay-or-go decisions to make. Billy Richmond III ultimately opted to go back to Fayetteville; Meleek Thomas didn't make an official announcement before the deadline but ultimatelykept his name in the draft as a projected late first-round pick. John Calipari's team likely falls out of the preseason top 10 without Thomas, but Richmond's return means the Razorbacks won't drop too far.

Now, on to the programs with more definitive positions coming out of deadline day.

Winners

Tounde Yessoufou completes a potential top-10 roster for St. John's

The deadline came and went without an official announcement from Yessoufou. That shouldn't have been a huge surprise; he waited until the final minutes to enter the transfer portal last month, too. The former Baylor wing had been arguably the most 50-50 stay-or-go decision entering the final day, with sources going back and forth on what he would ultimately do.

Shortly after midnight, ESPN's Shams Charania reported that Yessoufou was withdrawing from the draft and committing to St. John's. The Red Storm had quietly moved into a strong position for Yessoufou over the last couple of weeks and closed the deal Wednesday night.

Yessoufou brings an elite scoring ability, proving himself as one of the most naturally gifted bucket-getters in the country since his high school days. He completes one of the more talented and intriguing starting fives in the country alongside British point guard Quinn Ellis, Syracuse transfer Donnie Freeman, and returnees Ian Jackson and Ruben Prey.

After not being ranked in the top 10 at all for 25 years, St. John's is likely to find itself there for the third season in a row under Rick Pitino.

Tyler TannerkeepsVanderbiltin the national conversation

Among the final group of players to make stay-or-go decisions, Tanner was arguably the biggest needle-mover for his college team. With him back in the fold, Vanderbilt is once again a second-weekend NCAA tournament threat. Without him, the Commodores likely wouldn't have been close to the top 25.

Tanner was one of college basketball's elite point guards last season, averaging 19.5 points, 5.1 assists and 2.4 steals en route to All-SEC honors. He'll enter next season as an All-America candidate, and with Mark Byington surrounding him with plenty of talent in transfers Ace Glass (Washington State), Bangot Dak (Colorado), T.O. Barrett (Missouri), Sebastian Williams-Adams (Auburn) and Berke Buyuktuncel (Nebraska), the Commodores will remain in the national discussion.

Duke, Florida, Illinois, Louisville, Michigan Statesolidify top-15 status

While invitations to the combine left the NBA draft door open, there wasn't any expectation that Florida's Rueben Chinyelu, Duke's John Blackwell, Illinois' Andrej Stojakovic, Louisville's Flory Bidunga or Michigan State's Jeremy Fears Jr. would remain in it. Now that all five are officially going back to college, the preseason top 15 can begin to take shape.

Florida is almost certain to open the campaign at No. 1, while Blackwell's return gives Duke the go-to perimeter scorer the Blue Devils desperately needed to stay near the top. Stojakovic is the fifth key player Illinois returns from its Final Four team; Bidunga is the best committed transfer in the country; and Fears is an All-America point guard.

Alabamais teetering on top-10 status

There are still some moving parts to Alabama's offseason, most notably the status of Aden Holloway. But Amari Allen's deadline-day decision to return to Tuscaloosa gives Nate Oats' team a legitimate shot to be a preseason top-10 team entering next season -- if Holloway is back.

Allen averaged 11.4 points, 6.9 rebounds and 3.1 assists as one of the freshmen who surprised nationally last season. With potential lottery pick Labaron Philon Jr. gone to the NBA, there will also be more playmaking opportunities for Allen. Oats collected a wide range of intriguing wing talent alongside Allen, including top-30 recruitsJaxon Richardson and Qayden Samuelsand NC State transferCole Cloer.

We mentioned Able earlier, but he and Allen are two players on this list who have true potential to crack the first round of the 2027 draft.

The team that adds Milan Momcilovic

For teams with deep pockets and a glaring hole in their starting lineup, the pool of talent has one clear target. Former Iowa State forward Momcilovic was the best shooter in college basketball last season and the No. 1 player to enter the transfer portal all spring. Whichever team lands him will immediately move up the preseason pecking order. Following his withdrawal, Momcilovic was focused on Kentucky, Arizona, St. John's and Louisville -- but the Johnnies landed Yessoufou shortly after the withdrawal deadline, which likely took them out of the running.

Kentucky desperately needs a proven focal point offensively, while Arizona must find a Koa Peat replacement. Louisville's situation is not as urgent, but the Cardinals could use an offensive upgrade on Karter Knox.

Kentuckycould save its 2026-27 season

It's been a rocky offseason in Lexington. Mark Pope and Kentucky had a difficult start to the transfer portal, swinging and missing -- in some cases publicly -- on several top targets. The Wildcats righted the ship by adding electric guards Zoom Diallo (Washington) and Alex Wilkins (Furman) as well as talented international prospect Ousmane N'Diaye, but their best stretch of the spring might have come over the last week.

Not only did Malachi Moreno, a freshman big man who boosted his stock during the predraft process, withdraw to return to Kentucky, the Wildcats also positioned themselves well in the Momcilovic sweepstakes following his withdrawal. Moreno should be in for a breakout sophomore season, and the combination of his return with a renewed opportunity to potentially land a game-changing player from the portal makes Pope's program a winner.

Losers

Arizona'sback-to-back Final Four chances slipping away without Koa Peat

It wasn't necessarily unexpected, as Peat made it clear since he entered the NBA draft last month that he was focused on turning pro. But as his mock draft position fell over the last few weeks, there was hope that he could return to Tucson. That ended Wednesday, when he made staying in the draft official.

Peat's departure leaves a sizable vacancy for Tommy Lloyd. Arizona has rebuilt its backcourt effectively, adding transfers Derek Dixon and JJ Mandaquit and top-five recruitCaleb Holt, while future NBA draft picks Ivan Kharchenkov and Motiejus Krivas are back up front. But a sophomore season from Peat would have vaulted the Wildcats back into the top-five, national-contender discussion.

As mentioned above, there's stiff competition for one potential replacement in Momcilovic.

Stanford's hopes of a Ebuka Okorie U-turn are dashed

Okorie announced his plans to stay in the NBA draft at the combine, telling media in Chicago that he already talked with coach Kyle Smith and told him he was keeping his name in the draft. But Smith and the Cardinal held out some level of hope that Okorie would change his mind and return to college, and NBA sources didn't think the door was completely shut on that possibility. But the news was made official Wednesday, and Stanford is now without one of the most explosive players in college basketball last season, a player who went from an unranked three-star recruit to a one-and-done first-rounder.

The silver lining: Smith and Stanford are likely to produce draft picks in back-to-back years, followingMaxime Raynaud's second-round selection a year ago.

Expected departures sting, but minimized by succession planning

There was very little deadline-day drama from a departure perspective, with most players making their intentions known weeks ago at the combine or reaffirming their decisions in days leading up to the deadline. Texas Tech's Christian Anderson, Michigan's Morez Johnson Jr., Duke's Isaiah Evans and Texas' Dailyn Swain were all likely to stay in the draft, even if Anderson and Johnson didn't totally close the door until this last week.

All four programs also mitigated some of the sting of their star's departures with effective roster construction. Grant McCasland already landed high-scoring transfers Cruz Davis and Dra Gibbs-Lawhorn to replace Anderson; Michigan nabbedJ.P. Estrellaand Moustapha Thiam out of the portal up front; John Blackwell is the best possible Evans replacement; and Sean Miller and Texas have one of the elite portal classes in the country.

]