Florida Atlantic guards Johnell Davis, Alijah Martin withdraw from 2023 NBA Draft

Florida Atlantic guards Johnell Davis and Alijah Martin have withdrawn from the 2023 NBA Draft, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnawrowski reported Wednesday. The pair were key cogs in the Owls run to the Final Four this past season and will now return to school for another try in 2023-24.

Davis was the teams leading scorer this past season with 13.8 points per game in addition to 5.4 rebounds. He came off the bench for most of the season before starting the final 12 games of the year, including all of the NCAA Tournament. Davis was named the Conference USA Sixth Man of the Year in addition to earning first team all-league honors.

Martin was right behind Davis to finish second on the team in scoring with 13.4 points per game on 37.2% shooting from 3-point range. He was also named first team All-Conference USA as well as to the 2023 All-NCAA Tournament Team.

With both Alijah Martin and Johnell Davis withdrawing from the NBA Draft, Florida Atlantic is expected to enter next season as a top five team.

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.