KU’s Jalen Wilson will withdraw from NBA Draft, return to Jayhawks for another season
Jalen Wilson has decided to remove his name from the 2022 NBA Draft and return to Kansas for his junior season.
Wilson, a 6-foot-8 forward from Denton, Texas, who played the last two seasons after redshirting his freshman year at KU, made the announcement just before 5 p.m. Wednesday on Twitter.
Wilson, a starter who averaged 11.7 points and 7.4 rebounds a game during the 2021-22 season for national champion KU, declared for the draft on April 22 with the option of returning to school. He had until 11 p.m. Wednesday to withdraw from the draft if he wished to resume his college career.
“I’m back,” Wilson wrote in a post on Twitter, adding, “My path has always been different.”
KU coach Bill Self said: “We are all very excited to hear the news today from Jalen and his family that he will be returning to school for the 2022-23 campaign. He’s gone through the process and the process did exactly what it is intended to do. It gave him the feedback he needed to make an educated decision. We’re proud of the maturity Jalen showed in making the decision and very excited to put him a position to where he can enhance his opportunities to not only play, but have a long career in the NBA.
“Our team got a lot better today,” Self added. “As well as Jalen played last year, he is just scratching the surface of the entire player he can be for our program. I’m looking forward to the intangibles he will bring to this team as he and Dajuan (Harris) become the vets and the leaders of our program.”
Former Texas Tech guard Kevin McCullar also removed his name from the draft pool Wednesday night. Those decisions mean KU’s 13 scholarships for the 2022-23 season are filled.
McCullar declared for the draft on March 27. A month later he entered his name in the transfer portal, eventually choosing KU on May 19 over runner-up Gonzaga. He has two years of college eligibility remaining.
“At this stage of my life, KU offers me an opportunity to continue to improve my game while still being close to my family. I am extremely thankful and excited for this opportunity, to represent such a historic basketball program. It’s an honor of a lifetime!” McCullar said on May 19.
McCullar, who is known as an outstanding defensive player, ranked third on the Red Raiders in scoring in 2021-22 (10.1 points a game on 40.2% shooting) and second in rebounding (4.6). He hit 28 of 90 threes for 31.1%. He also made 72.5% of his free throws. McCullar dished a team-leading 89 assists against 57 turnovers.
He missed eight games because of an ankle injury, an injury that hampered him much of the season. McCullar scored in double digits in 16 of the 29 games he played in last season and scored 20-plus points two times.
Wilson attended both the NBA G League Elite Camp and NBA Combine in recent weeks and also worked out for individual teams.
According to Yahoo Sports, Wilson met with officials from several NBA teams, including the Philadelphia 76ers, Golden State Warriors, Toronto Raptors, New Orleans Pelicans, Chicago Bulls, Detroit Pistons, Denver Nuggets, Indiana Pacers, Los Angeles Lakers, Minnesota Timberwolves, Boston Celtics and Milwaukee Bucks.
He worked out with the Bucks on Tuesday in Wisconsin.
Wilson hit 7 of 11 threes in two games at recent NBA G League Elite Camp, scoring a game-high 18 points in one of the two 5-on-5 games. At the NBA Combine he was 1-of-7 from three, averaging just under 10 points an 6.0 rebounds a game in two games.
Wilson measured 6-foot-7 1/4 with shoes, 6-5 3/4 barefoot in official NBA measurements taken at the G League Elite Camp. He weighed in at 224.6 pounds with a 6-8 1/4 wingspan and 8-6 standing reach. He had 7.65% body fat.
Wilson — he hit 46.1% of his shots including 26.3% of his threes last season at KU (72.2% of his free throws) — recorded 10 or more rebounds 12 times last season, including four times in the NCAA Tournament. He averaged 12.0 points and 9.7 rebounds in KU’s six NCAA Tournament games on its run to the men’s basketball title.
This story was originally published June 1, 2022 at 5:01 PM.
