Kentucky guard Antonio Reeves declares for 2023 NBA Draft, maintains college eligibility

Kentucky guard and Illinois State transfer Antonio Reeves has one more year of collegiate eligibility left to use in Lexington if he so chooses. According to Kentucky Sports Radio’s Jack Pilgrim, he’ll keep that option on the table, however we will test the NBA Draft waters before deciding whether to return to school or not.

KSR reported the Reeves news on a Tuesday morning post, writing:

“Kentucky guard Antonio Reeves will test the NBA Draft waters while leaving the door open for a potential return to Lexington, the senior standout announced Tuesday morning.”

So, as expected, Reeves, who was a true senior in 2022-23, will go through the draft process to hear feedback from teams and figure out what kind of contract he’d be looking at before making a decision on his fifth season of college. He averaged 14.4 points per game this past season, his first with the ‘Cats, after scoring slightly over 20 a night for Illinois State in 2022.

Obviously, his return would be massive for a Kentucky team that will be much younger next year. Fellow senior star Jacob Toppin already announced his departure, as did Sahvir Wheeler, and Oscar Tshiebwe is expected to follow suit. If continuity and veteran leadership are things you care about as a basketball fan, then Kentucky needs to hope Reeves returns to give these five-star freshmen at least some stability to walk into.

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.