2024 NBA Draft: What is the early entry deadline?
Undergraduate basketball players are allowed to declare their intent to enter the NBA Draft before exhausting their collegiate eligibility.
The status is called early entry, and numerous former undergraduate players, including Michael Jordan, Stephen Curry, Vince Carter and Anthony Edwards, had tested the waters and were successful in their plans to turn professional.
The annual list of early entrants has expanded since the NCAA allowed players to play an extra year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It provides players with the option to either declare for the draft or stay in college for another year.
Last season, 242 draft prospects enlisted themselves as early entrants, but only 92 kept their names and went pro. The number of early entrants for this season is expected to reach similar numbers, with various NCAA stars declaring their names early for the annual event.
NBA Draft Early Entry Declaration in 2024
Undergraduate players seeking to be drafted are given 60 days to declare before the annual event. Other college underclassmen have until April 27 to declare their eligibility for the NBA Draft as early entrants.
Just like graduate players, early-entry players can participate in NBA pre-draft camps and individual team workouts to strut their skills and possibly secure responses on their draft positions.
A collegiate player who declares for the draft can lose his eligibility if he doesn't withdraw his name from the draft list. Following evaluation by the NBA Undergraduate Advisory Committee, he is permitted to sign with any agent.
If the player ends up undrafted, he can return to his alma mater for at least a year, granted that he terminates agreements with his agent. The rule has been in effect since the 2019 draft.
NBA Draft Withdrawal Deadlines in 2024
The deadline for early-entry players to withdraw from the draft is May 29. If they withdraw on or before that date, they will keep their NCAA eligibility. The NBA has set the deadline for college early entrants to withdraw their draft intentions as June 16, 5:00 pm ET.
This year's NBA Draft will be historic, held over two days on June 26-27.