The NBA has released the list of players invited to the 2024 NBA Draft Combine, but former Gonzaga men's basketball star Anton Watson is not on the list.
The list released Friday afternoon also includes Michael Ajayi, who officially committed to Gonzaga in late April. Ajayi remained collegiately eligible and entered the 2024 NBA Draft in early April. Based on the current mock draft, Ajayi is expected to withdraw his name from consideration. According to NCAA rules, players drafted have until May 29 to withdraw from the draft to maintain their college eligibility.
Notable names invited include former Gonzaga University's Hunter Sallis, University of Southern California's Bronny James, San Francisco's Jonathan Mogbo, Grand Canyon's Tyon Grant Foster, Weber State's Dillon Jones, and BYU's Includes Jackson Robinson.
After exhausting his college eligibility, Watson went through the pre-draft process last year and had his name pulled back to Gonzaga for his fifth season. Watson could be invited to the NBA Draft Combine if he performs well at the 2024 NBA G League Elite Camp. The G League Elite Camp invite list has not yet been released.
According to an NBA press release, “Several outstanding players selected from the 2024 NBA G League Elite Camp, to be held May 10-11 at Wintrust Arena, will be drafted into the 2024 NBA Draft following that event. “I'll be invited to the combine.”
Watson was named All-WCC as a fifth-year student after setting career highs in points (14.5 per game), rebounds (7.1), assists (2.6), field goals made per game (5.8), and field goals. Selected for the first team. He tried (10.0).
On a recent episode of Gonzaga Nation, assistant coach Brian Michelson talked about how Watson's game fits in the modern NBA.
“He's going to have a really, really great professional future,” Michelson said. “To me, I think his game is a perfect fit for the modern NBA. He's very versatile defensively and can do a lot of different things offensively. His shooting has really improved.”