Texas forward Dillon Mitchell declares for 2023 NBA Draft

Freshman Texas forward Dillon Mitchell has made a decision on his future with the Longhorns. He will declare for the 2023 NBA Draft, he announced via Twitter Wednesday.

Mitchell came out of the 2022 recruiting class as one of its top overall players. He attended Montverde Academy (Fla.) as a senior and was rated as the No. 4 overall player in the cycle, according to the On3 Industry Ranking, a weighted average that utilizes all four major recruiting media companies. But he was in a tough spot as a rookie playing alongside a bunch of veteran transfers, several of which were in their fifth or sixth seasons of college ball.

Overall, Dillon Mitchell was probably a bit underwhelming as a freshman for a consensus top-five player in his recruiting class. By no means was he a bad player, though. In fact, Mitchell perhaps was under-used. He really didn’t often assert himself offensively, but he was very much part of Texas’ terrific defense.

🫶🏽 pic.twitter.com/ErAYAxAI6p

— Dillon Mitchell (@Dillonmit_23) April 12, 2023

With how small the roster was all year, Mitchell was forced to start and play as a true forward, guarding older and bigger players than himself for the most part. But he hung tough and often won those matchups defensively thanks to his athleticism.

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.