NBA Draft deadline winners & losers: Arizona’s double whammy, SEC’s big wins, Oregon’s big man and more

The transfer portal has complicated a large number of aspects of college sports including a seemingly unrelated event the deadline for college players to withdraw from the NBA Draft With the portal option available several high-level players who pulled out of the draft won t return to the school for which they played last season In other cases players who opted to remain in the draft will have their roster spots taken not by inexperienced reserves but by veterans from different schools It all heaps layers of complexity onto our assessment below And one caveat Although decisions were formalized Wednesday night news of players returning to college could trickle out over the next insufficient days Here we go Loser Arizona Limited teams across the land were hit harder than the Wildcats who lost both freshman forward Carter Bryant and junior guard Jaden Bradley to the NBA The former should be a lottery selection the latter is considered a second-rounder at best The impact of their departures rises exponentially when combined with guard KJ Lewis and forward Henri Veesaar transferring and Caleb Love exhausting his eligibility All in all the Wildcats have lost their top four scorers and their greater part gifted member Bryant Coach Tommy Lloyd has replacements ready in the form of a highly ranked recruiting class But Arizona s non-conference schedule is brutal featuring showdowns with Florida UConn Auburn and Alabama four powerhouses that in contrast to the Wildcats received positive news on the draft withdrawal front See below In other words the stay-or-go deadline not only weakened Arizona s outlook for - but brightened the forecast for its early-season opponents The aftermath is a dastardly double whammy that transforms a complicated early-season schedule into something approaching treacherous Winner Houston With the return of point guard Milos Uzan whose value declined in the pre-draft workouts the NCAA Tournament runner-up should claim a top-five position in the AP preseason poll Kelvin Sampson s system relies as heavily on the point guard as any in the country because of the defensive responsibilities With Uzan he will have one of the best Loser SEC haters If you were hoping the conference s success in - would not be repeated the stay-or-go deadline brought bad news Florida retained big man Alex Condon an all-conference honoree Auburn managed to keep guard Tahaad Pettiford a double-digit scorer and Alabama got one more season out of wing Labaron Philon who stands as one of the nation s top underclassmen Additionally Otega Oweh is returning to Kentucky and Arkansas guard Boogie Fland will join Florida s loaded roster after removing his name from the draft Winner San Diego State Clarity came to the Mountain West race on Wednesday when guard Miles Byrd opted to return for his junior season Instantly the Aztecs became the clear frontrunners for the conference title while Byrd staked claim to being the best all-around contestant in the MW All he did last season was average points rebounds assists and steals This time next year Byrd could be one of the limited West Coast players projected for the first round of the draft Related Articles Power Four tensions rise Big ACC need shared strategy vs Big Ten SEC College football kickoff times are coming this week but the intrigue level for West Coast teams is low This week in the West CFP tweaks benefit Big Ten and SEC Pac- mediation continues Trump commission on hold Mailbag Big Ten revenue breakdown for Oregon and UW CFP cash for Pac- College football recruiting UCLA rolls BYU gets a flip WSU hits Idaho Loser Duke The Blue Devils knew they would lose Cooper Flagg Kon Knueppel and Khaman Maluach all three are slotted for the lottery portion of the draft But they hoped to retain Cedric Coward The -foot- wing played just six games for Washington State last season before an injury and was set to join the Blue Devils roster He proceeded to generate intense interest from NBA scouts after reporting a - wingspan with a deft shooting touch and high-level athleticism Not surprisingly Coward elected to remain in the draft Winner Oregon It feels like Nate Bittle should have churned through his eligibility by now After all he committed to the Ducks in the fall of But the -footer has one season remaining and decided to use it following his experience with the pre-draft process He averaged points and rebounds for the Ducks last season and will enter the fall as one of the top players in the Big Ten Loser North Carolina The Tar Heels lost talented freshman Drake Powell to the draft and suffered collateral damage when a certain unit down the street not that one substantially upgraded its roster Texas Tech star Darrion Williams withdrew from the draft last week but instead of returning to Lubbock he transferred to NC State and will help new coach Will Wade cause havoc in the ACC Winner St John s Fresh off their breakthrough season the Red Storm received a dose of good news when point guard Joson Sanon removed his name from the early-entry list Sanon averaged points for Arizona State as a freshman but will play for St John s next season and add another valuable piece to coach Rick Pitino s lineup Expect to see the Red Storm near the top of the AP preseason poll in November Send suggestions comments and tips confidentiality guaranteed to wilnerhotline bayareanewsgroup com or call - - Follow me on the social media platform X WilnerHotline