Virginia Tech forward Grant Basile to play professionally in Italy

While NBA Draft announcements come and go across the college basketball landscape, Virginia Tech forward Grant Basile has made plans for his future. He won’t enter the NBA Draft, instead pursuing a professional career in Italy.

That will preclude a return to school for the 2023-24 season.

“Thank you Virginia Tech for allowing me to represent you everyday,” Grant Basile wrote on his Twitter account. “Thank you to my coaches and teammates for the memories and for welcoming me into the family.

“Thank you to the fans, it was truly an honor playing in front of you all in Cassell Coliseum. You guys are some of the best fans in the country. Blacksburg is truly a special place, and I am thankful to have been a able to be apart of it.”

Basile was a major force for the Hokies last season after a few productive seasons at Wright State. After transferring to the Hokies, Basile averaged 16.4 points and 5.4 rebounds per game.

He was named honorable mention All-ACC for his play during the year.

Prior to enrolling at Wright State and later transferring to Virginia Tech, Basile was an unranked prospect in the 2018 recruiting class. But he obviously did quite well for himself despite the lack of interest out of high school.

The 6-foot-9 forward averaged 18.4 points and 8.5 rebounds in his final season at Wright State, while posting 15.0 points and 7.0 rebounds per game the year before that.

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.