The days of college athletes, and especially men’s college basketball players, leaving school early to take a chance on making it at the next level appear to be gone.
With players now making good money via revenue sharing and name, image and likeness, the risk/reward calculation is keeping more and more of them in school.
Data published on X by Jonathan Givony of Draft Express indicates only 71 players entered the 2026 NBA Draft early this year. That figure is down from 106 last year, and a fraction of the peak of 363 in 2021 — the year NIL began at the college level.
The early entry deadline for the 2026 NBA Draft passed this week. No players from Indiana have put their name on the list.
This development is even more notable because basketball players continue to have the option to withdraw from the NBA Draft and return to college. In recent years this setup incentivized players on the margin to at least enter early to obtain feedback on their chances to make it at the next level, and their developmental needs.
Some schools arranging multi-million deals for athletes who might be considering the NBA Draft are ensuring contractually that such players don’t go the early entry/feedback route.
But now almost all high-level college basketball players have agents, so they can receive that relevant feedback on an ongoing basis anyway. And for many of them, the decision comes down to a simple comparison.
While high-end college players can make more than $1 million, most NBA G League players earn around $50,000 for a five-to-six-month season. And even players on two-way contracts with NBA teams earned well below seven figures for the 2025-26 season.
The NBA requires athletes be at least 19 years old and one-year removed from their high school graduation in order to be draft eligible. This rule, which came into existence in 2005, led to a significant number of players leaving college after one season.
The dynamic no doubt also holds for football as well, although likely to a lesser extent. The NFL requires players be three years removed from their high school graduation in order to enter the draft.
Givony charted the rise and fall of basketball early entries here since 2006:
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