This week’s NBA Draft Combine in Chicago could make or break several prospective draft picks, determining their futures. But it also will shape next year’s college basketball season for several programs that have players who have yet to commit to entering the professional ranks or returning to college. That deadline is May 30.
Here are five schools that have the most to lose — or gain — in the next few days:
Villanova
The defending national champions already will lose National Player of the Year Jalen Brunson and potential top-10 pick Mikal Bridges. Super sub Donte DiVincenzo, the Most Outstanding Player of the Final Four, and freshman forward Omari Spellman could be gone, too. DiVincenzo, nicknamed “The Michael Jordan of Delaware,” is a projected first-round pick, while the sweet-shooting 6-foot-9 Spellman needs to impress this week to cement himself as a first-rounder. If one — or both — return, the Wildcats, who get back starters Eric Paschall and Phil Booth, add Albany graduate transfer Joe Cremo and a top recruiting class, will be a Final Four favorite.
Kentucky
The Wildcats’ season doesn’t rest on the return of forward PJ Washington. He, however, would give Kentucky’s front line some much-needed experience. Washington reportedly would stay in the draft if he has a first-round guarantee, otherwise he may go back to school. The physical 6-foot-7 forward, who got better as his freshman season went on, is a load in the paint, but there are questions about his ability to score more than a few feet away from the basket at the next level, and if he is quick enough to guard wings or big enough to handle forwards.