Texas' Dillon Mitchell spurns NBA draft, returns to Longhorns men's basketball team

The Texas men’s basketball team beat the NBA draft deadline at the buzzer Wednesday evening when Dillon Mitchell withdrew his name from draft consideration to return to Texas.

Mitchell, a 6-foot-8 forward, started every game last season as the Longhorns went 29-9, won the Big 12 Tournament and reached the Elite Eight of the NCAA Tournament. He declared his intention to enter this summer’s draft in April but retained his college eligibility. Like every other NBA draft prospect who kept his eligibility, he had until Thursday to either stay in the draft or return to school. His decision was first reported by DraftExpress.com.

A former five-star recruit from Florida, Mitchell averaged 4.3 points and 3.8 rebounds in 17.5 minutes a game last season. Head coach Rodney Terry and his staff love Mitchell’s defensive versatility, but Mitchell also flashed an improved offensive game throughout his preparation for the draft, which helped earn him a coveted invitation to the NBA’s predraft combine in May.

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DraftExpress founder Jonathan Givony said that Mitchell’s performance during predraft workouts as well as his elite athleticism and high ceiling will probably transform him from a projected second-round pick to a first-rounder. DraftExpress is a private scouting and analytics service used by NCAA teams, the NBA and professional leagues in Europe.

“Mitchell will enter next season with high expectations as one of the most explosive athletes in the college game,” Givony tweeted.

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Guard Tyrese Hunter, another starter who had declared for the draft, recently announced he would return to Texas. Hunter, Mitchell and forward Dylan Disu give the Longhorns three returning starters. Forward Brock Cunningham also returns and is likely to resume his role as an energizer and defensive workhorse off the bench.

In addition, Terry fortified his program in the transfer portal by signing guards Max Abmas from Oral Roberts and Chendall Weaver from Texas-Arlington as well as power forward Ze'Rik Onyema from UTEP and forward Kaden Shedrick from Virginia.

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Terry, who had the interim tag removed from his title of head coach a day after the Longhorns’ loss in the Elite Eight, said during the Texas Fight Tour in May that he supported both Mitchell and Hunter during their draft exploration while retaining hopes that he’d get to coach them at least one more season.

“You encourage those guys to try to go live out their dreams,” Terry said. “You got to go out there and try to make your way, but knowing at the same time that if you don't hear what you really want to hear, you have an incredible opportunity to come back and continue to be a part of a winning program at the University of Texas.”

Terry has also hinted that Texas will probably try to sign another player or two in the portal, especially in the backcourt. With all college players now either committed to the draft or exploring NCAA options, Terry says there could be one more “wave” of portal signings.

“I feel like we got a pretty good set of guys in terms of the frontcourt, but we still want to shore up a little bit our guard play,” Terry said. “There's another trickle-down effect coming from the draft. Maybe guys are not hearing what they want to hear, and they’ll have a chance to come back and use their eligibility to continue to play at the collegiate level. We need to be ready for that as that occurs.”