On Monday, the NBA unveiled its list of early-entry candidates for the 2026 NBA Draft. This announcement followed a period of anticipation surrounding several underclassmen who hadn’t publicly clarified if they would return to their college teams or explore their draft prospects.
Among the intriguing names was Alijah Arenas from USC. A top-10 recruit in the 2025 class, as evaluated by 247Sports, and son of former NBA standout Gilbert Arenas, he quietly submitted his draft entry without any formal announcement.
Shortly after the NBA made the early entrants list public, reports emerged that Arenas had decided to withdraw from the draft. Since he did not enter the NCAA transfer portal, it’s expected that he will continue with USC for his sophomore year.
Arenas was ranked as the No. 39 prospect by CBS Sports for the NBA Draft. His season was notably disrupted by a car accident and a subsequent knee surgery in the summer, sidelining him for the initial two months of the 2025-26 college basketball season.
In the shuffle of the early NBA Draft deadline, Duke and Florida emerged as winners by retaining key starters, while UNC faced a setback with the departure of a pivotal star.
Cameron Salerno
The deadline to withdraw from the draft and maintain eligibility to return to school is May 27 at 11:59 p.m. ET. There were only 71 early entrants in the 2026 NBA Draft. That is the lowest total since 2003. Last year, there were 106 early entrants, and in 2021, there were 363.
Several of the biggest draft prospects in college basketball waited until the final days of the deadline to officially declare, including Kansas’ Darryn Peterson, Duke’s Cameron Boozer, and BYU’s AJ Dybantsa — all of whom could be the No. 1 overall pick this summer.
There are also many names, including Arenas, who could return to school for another season. Some of them include Alabama’s Amari Allen, Vanderbilt’s Tyler Tanner, Arkansas’ Meleek Thomas and Stanford’s Ebuka Okorie.
Here is the list of all the prospects from the college and International ranks who entered the 2026 NBA Draft as early entrants.
Early entrants in the 2026 NBA Draft
| PLAYER | SCHOOL/TEAM | Year/Age |
| Matt Able | North Carolina State | Freshman |
| Darius Acuff Jr. | Arkansas | Freshman |
| Amari Allen | Alabama | Freshman |
| Nate Ament | Tennessee | Freshman |
| Christian Anderson Jr. | Texas Tech | Sophomore |
| Alijah Arenas | USC | Freshman |
| Flory Bidunga | Kansas | Sophomore |
| Finley Bizjack | Butler | Junior |
| John Blackwell | Wisconsin | Junior |
| Shane Blakeney | Drexel | Junior |
| Anton Bonke | Charlotte | Junior |
| Cameron Boozer | Duke | Freshman |
| Mikel Brown Jr. | Louisville | Freshman |
| Rowan Brumbaugh | Tulane | Junior |
| Brayden Burries | Arizona | Freshman |
| Elliot Cadeau | Michigan | Junior |
| Cameron Carr | Baylor | Sophomore |
| Chris Cenac Jr. | Houston | Freshman |
| Rueben Chinyelu | Florida | Junior |
| Jacob Cofie | USC | Sophomore |
| Cruz Davis | Hofstra | Junior |
| Kennard Davis Jr. | BYU | Junior |
| Keanu Dawes | Utah | Junior |
| AJ Dybantsa | BYU | Freshman |
| Gabe Dynes | USC | Junior |
| Eian Elmer | Miami (OH) | Junior |
| Isaiah Evans | Duke | Sophomore |
| Jeremy Fears Jr. | Michigan State | Sophomore |
| Kingston Flemings | Houston | Freshman |
| Colby Garland | San Jose State | Junior |
| Allen Graves | Santa Clara | Freshman |
| Juke Harris | Wake Forest | Sophomore |
| Isiah Harwell | Houston | Freshman |
| Lou Hutchinson | Alabama A&M | Junior |
| Morez Johnson Jr. | Michigan | Sophomore |
| Acaden Lewis | Villanova | Freshman |
| Aday Mara | Michigan | Junior |
| Milan Momcilovic | Iowa State | Junior |
| Malachi Moreno | Kentucky | Freshman |
| Paulius Murauskas | Saint Mary’s | Junior |
| Ebuka Okorie | Stanford | Freshman |
| Dennis Parker Jr. | Radford | Junior |
| Koa Peat | Arizona | Freshman |
| Darryn Peterson | Kansas | Freshman |
| Labaron Philon Jr. | Alabama | Sophomore |
| Jayden Quaintance | Kentucky | Sophomore |
| Sebastian Rancik | Colorado | Sophomore |
| Billy Richmond III | Arkansas | Sophomore |
| Hannes Steinbach | Washington | Freshman |
| Andrej Stojakovic | Illinois | Junior |
| Dailyn Swain | Texas | Junior |
| Tyler Tanner | Vanderbilt | Sophomore |
| Meleek Thomas | Arkansas | Freshman |
| Aiden Tobiason | Temple | Sophomore |
| Bryson Tucker | Washington | Sophomore |
| Henri Veesaar | North Carolina | Junior |
| Keaton Wagler | Illinois | Freshman |
| LeJuan Watts | Texas Tech | Junior |
| Caleb Wilson | North Carolina | Freshman |
| Tounde Yessoufou | Baylor | Freshman |
| Mohammad Amini | Nancy (France) | 2005 DOB |
| Pavle Backo | Mega (Serbia) | 2007 DOB |
| Bassala Bagayoko | Bilbao (Spain) | 2006 DOB |
| Francesco Ferrari | Virtus Bologna (Italy) | 2005 DOB |
| Marc-Owen Fodzo Dada | Nancy (France) | 2006 DOB |
| Vsevolod Ishchenko | Lokomotiv (Russia) | 2005 DOB |
| Jack Kayil | Alba Berlin (Germany) | 2006 DOB |
| Sergio de Larrea | Valencia (Spain) | 2005 DOB |
| Karim Lopez | New Zealand Breakers (Australia) | 2007 DOB |
| Alexandros Samodurov | Panathinaikos (Greece) | 2005 DOB |
| Luigi Suigo | Mega (Serbia) | 2007 DOB |
