Duke forward Mark Mitchell announces decision to return for 2023-24 season

Duke forward Mark Mitchell has made a major decision on his future and whether or not to declare for the 2023 NBA Draft. Mitchell will be returning to Duke for another season, he announced on Twitter on Thursday morning.

The 2022-2023 season was Mitchell’s first at Duke, and it was a solid one. He played in 35 games, all starts, and averaged 9.1 points, 4.5 rebounds and 1.2 assists per game. Mitchell averaged 27.1 minutes per game, shooting 46.9% from the field and 35.2% from three-point range. He was also a 76.3% free throw shooter.

Before coming to Duke, Mitchell was already a player with a ton of NBA Draft intrigue. He joined the Blue Devils as a four-star recruit as the 24th-rated overall player and the 10th-rated small forward, according to the On3 Industry Ranking.

Duke was the No. 5 seed in the East Region in the NCAA Tournament this season. The Blue Devils defeated No. 12 seed Oral Roberts in the opening round before falling to No. 4 seed Tennessee in the Round of 32. Duke finished the season with a 27-9 overall record, which included a 14-6 regular season mark against ACC opponents.

More on the 2023 NBA Draft

The 2023 NBA Draft is set to take place on Thursday, June 22, 2023, in Brooklyn at Barclays Center. Round 1 of the draft will be announced by NBA Commissioner Adam Silver, while Deputy Commissioner Mark Tatum is expected to handle the second round of picks.

To be eligible for the NBA Draft, players must be at least 19 years in age during the calendar year that the draft is held and at least one NBA season from their high school graduation date, or the date that would have been if they are not graduated. It is not required that player spend that one year playing college basketball, though. Players can play in either college, abroad, or the G League Ignite if they choose so.

While this is a significant change from what the rules once were, players are eligible to enter their names into the NBA Draft pool and explore their options by hiring an agent to go through the process, while still keeping their college eligibility. The deadline to make that move is on April 23 beginning at 11:59 p.m. ET. Players have until June 12 at 5 p.m. ET to withdraw their name from the pool and return to college.

The NBA Draft Lottery will be held on May 16, which is also the start of the NBA Conference Finals.