2026 NBA Draft: Early entry list features just 71 players, lowest since 2003

The 2026 NBA Draft will be heavily impacted by the NIL market in college basketball, with just 71 early entrants filing paperwork this year. Even among the players who did insert their name, several have already committed to schools and are likely to withdraw before the deadline.

In the meantime, those who chose to go through the NBA Draft process will workout in front of scouts and get feedback on what they must improve to play at the next level. In a loaded class of freshmen, it will also be worth tracking how many stay vs. a look at the 2027 class.

Already, this list includes the fewest players since 2003, and shows a continued dropoff from past seasons as the number continued to trend down. The peak hit in 2022 with 363 early entries.

Here is a full list of the players which input their name before the NBA Draft’s early entry deadline for 2026. They have until May 27 to withdraw and return to college basketball.

2026 NBA Draft early entrants

All names are listed alphabetically

Matt Able, NC State > North Carolina
Darius Acuff, Arkansas
Amari Allen, Alabama
Nate Ament, Tennessee
Christian Anderson, Texas Tech
Alijah Arenas, USC (Withdrawn)
Flory Bidunga, Kansas > Louisville
Finley Bizjack, Butler > West Virginia
John Blackwell, Wisconsin > Duke
Shane Blakeney, Drexel > South Carolina
Anton Bonke, Charlotte > Michigan State
Cameron Boozer, Duke
Mikel Brown, Louisville
Rowan Brumbaugh, Tulane > SMU
Brayden Burries, Arizona
Elliot Cadeau, Michigan
Cameron Carr, Baylor
Chris Cenac, Houston
Rueben Chinyelu, Florida
Jacob Cofie, USC
Cruz Davis, Hofstra > Texas Tech
Kennard Davis, BYU > Transfer Portal
Keanu Dawes, Utah > Kansas
AJ Dybantsa, BYU
Gabe Dynes, USC > Louisville
Eian Elmer, Miami (OH) > Wisconsin
Isaiah Evans, Duke
Jeremy Fears, Michigan State
Kingston Flemings, Houston
Colby Garland, SJSU > Georgia Tech
Allen Graves, Santa Clara > Transfer Portal
Juke Harris, Wake Forest > Transfer Portal
Isiah Harwell, Houston > Gonzaga
Lou Hutchinson, Alabama A&M
Morez Johnson, Michigan
Acaden Lewis, Villanova > Miami
Aday Mara, Michigan
Milan Momcilovic, Iowa State > Transfer Portal
Malachi Moreno, Kentucky
Paulius Murauskas, St. Mary’s > Arizona State
Ebuka Okorie, Stanford
Dennis Parker, Radford > Transfer Portal
Koa Peat, Arizona
Darryn Peterson, Kansas
Labaron Philon, Alabama
Jayden Quaintance, Kentucky
Sebastian Rancik, Colorado > Florida State
Billy Richmond, Arkansas
Hannes Steinbach, Washington
Andrej Stojakovic, Illinois
Dailyn Swain, Texas
Tyler Tanner, Vanderbilt
Meleek Thomas, Arkansas
Aiden Tobiason, Temple > Syracuse
Bryson Tucker, Washington
Henri Veesaar, North Carolina
Keaton Wagler, Illinois
LeJuan Watts, Texas Tech > Washington
Caleb Wilson, North Carolina
Tounde Yessoufou, Baylor > Transfer Portal

International entries

All names are listed alphabetically

Mohammad Amini
Pavle Backo
Bassala Bagayoko
Francesco Ferrari
Marc-Owen Fodzo Dada
Vsevolod Ishchenko
Jack Kayil
Sergio de Larrea
Karim Lopez
Alexandros Samodurov
Luigi Suigo