Five Kentucky players among ESPN's Top 100 NBA Draft prospects

Kentucky is expected to have — at a minimum — two former players taken in next week’s 2024 NBA Draft in New York. Could another name or two (or three) sneak their way into the field?

On Friday afternoon, ESPN draft experts Jonathan Givony and Jeremy Woo published their updated Top 100 prospects list for the upcoming Draft. The usual suspects, freshmen guards Reed Sheppard and Rob Dillingham, cracked the Top 10, with freshmen wing Justin Edwards and fifth-year guard Antonio Reeves positioned to hear their names called by Commissioner Adam Silver sometime in the second round.

Additionally, fifth-year forward Tre Mitchell, who is often forgotten as a draft-hopeful player from last season’s Kentucky team, cracked the Top 100 for the second update in a row. While it remains unlikely that Mitchell will ultimately hear his name called in either of the two rounds, don’t be surprised if he’s quickly picked up as an undrafted free agent.

• No. 4 | Reed Sheppard
• No. 8 | Rob Dillingham
• No. 39 | Justin Edwards
• No. 54 | Antonio Reeves
• No. 85 | Tre Mitchell

In terms of draft projections, ESPN’s prospect rankings aren’t too far off from its most recent mock draft, which dropped on Wednesday. In fact, the only discrepancy between the two is Sheppard’s ranking, which is only off by one spot. Below is where Givony and Woo have Sheppard, Dillingham, Edwards, and Reeves landing.

• No. 3 | Reed Sheppard –> Houston Rockets (via BKN)
• No. 8 | Rob Dillingham –> San Antonio Spurs
• No. 39 | Justin Edwards –> Memphis Grizzlies (via BKN)
• No. 54 | Antonio Reeves –> Boston Celtics (via DAL)

The 2024 NBA Draft is scheduled for June 26-27 on ESPN/ABC.