Alabama Mark Sears According to ESPN's Jonathan Givony, he plans to withdraw from the 2024 NBA Draft and return to play for the Crimson Tide after helping them reach the Final Four last season (Twitter link).
Sears, who was ranked 80th on ESPN's Best Available Board, was named a Second Team All-American and First Team All-SEC for 2023-24. The 6-foot-1 guard averaged 21.5 points, 4.2 rebounds and 4.0 assists while shooting 50.8 percent from the field, 43.6 percent from three-point range and 85.7 percent from the free throw line.
“We got good feedback from the NBA.” Sears said, according to Givony.However, there are still some areas I can improve on. Next season I want to prove I can win on defense, continue to be vocal and show leadership, and get in better shape by getting better conditioned. The NIL changed basketball, and NBA teams told me that age doesn't matter in the game today, so I felt at ease coming back to bring a national championship home to Alabama.“
Michael AdjayePer Givony (Twitter link), the Pepperdine to Gonzaga transfer also withdrew from the draft. The 6'7″ guard averaged 17.2 points and 9.9 rebounds while shooting 47.0% from three-point range. He was named to the All-WCC First Team as a freshman at Pepperdine.
Ajayi is ranked No. 75 on ESPN's best available players rankings, and Givony said he'll be “closely monitored” as a senior after gaining fans during the pre-draft process.
Both Sears and Ajayi participated in the 2024 NBA Combine.
Ahead of tonight's NCAA withdrawal deadline, here are the latest draft decisions from early entrants.
Retraction from the draft:
- Ole Miss Guard Matthew Murrell Murrell will return to the Rebels for his super senior season after averaging 16.2 points per game last season, according to Jon Rothstein of CBS Sports (Twitter link). Murrell is ranked No. 77 in ESPN's best player rankings.
- Uga PoplarThe Miami transfer returns to college, where he will visit Oregon next week, according to Rothstein (Twitter link), after helping Miami reach the Final Four the year before, averaging 13.1 points and 4.8 rebounds in his junior season.
- Princeton Guard Xavian Lee He will return for his junior season, where he averaged 17.1 points, 5.7 rebounds and 3.7 assists and was named to the All-Ivy League First Team, according to Givony (Twitter link).
- Former Campbell Guard Anthony Dell'Orso Per Givony, he plans to transfer to the University of Arizona for his junior season (Twitter link), where he averaged 19.5 points and shot 38.0% from the 3-point line.
- Malik Dia He will transfer from Belmont University to Ole Miss for his junior season (Twitter link via Rothstein). He began his collegiate career at Vanderbilt University, where he averaged 16.9 points and 5.8 rebounds last season.
- Jaron Moore Moore will return to Oklahoma for his senior season (Twitter link via Rothstein) Moore began his career at Georgia Tech before playing his junior season at Oklahoma.
- In case you missed it, the Arizona Guard Caleb Love He will withdraw from the draft ahead of his super senior season with the Wildcats.
