Good Morning, Illini Nation: Fewer early entrants

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Sign up for our daily basketball newsletter here Welcome to Good Morning, Illini Nation, your daily dose of college basketball news from Illini beat writer and AP Top 25 voter Scott Richey.

Hell offer up insights every morning on Brad Underwoods team and college basketball at large: The early entrant list for the 2025 NBA Draft was released Monday.

A list of 106 players that stands as the fewest since 2015.

Of course, there's still only 59 picks in this year's draft after the New York Knicks had to forfeit a second rounder for tampering with Jalen Brunson.

And the 106 early entrants doesn't include players who have run out of eligibility (while that's still a thing) and will also be available in the draft.

The best, no-doubt-about-it draft eligible players should, of course, enter their names in the draft.

The whole idea is to get to the NBA and do so as early as possible.

But the allure of big money in college basketball has created an alternate path for borderline NBA players.

They stand to make SO much more money in college, and they're cashing in at a higher rate.

Cashing in big time this offseason in particular, with ESPN's Jonathan Givony putting the number of $1 million players in the hundreds.

Why on Earth would anyone pass up that kind of pay day to maybe get drafted and probably make less? (If you listened to this week's "Inside Illini Basketball" you might come away thinking I'm against players getting paid.

I'm not.

Chase that bag.

I just wish everyone was more honest about what was happening.

It's not NIL, for the most part.

It's pay for play.

Just be up front).

Anyway, the early entrant list didn't have all that many surprises.

Except maybe UConn's Alex Karaban, who wasn't included so was clearly coming back to the Huskies despite not announcing it (or entering the portal).

The National Basketball Association (NBA) announced today that 106 players have filed as early entry candidates for NBA Draft 2025 presented by State Farm, which will be held Wednesday, June 25 (First Round) and Thursday June 26 (Second Round) at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New...

pic.twitter.com/e4mr12UrBa Illinois, of course, was represented by Kasparas Jakucionis and Will Riley, who both will almost assuredly move from early entrant to draft candidate by the end of next month when players have to decided whether they're staying in or returning to college basketball.

Notable names to know on that that could return to college and play in the Big Ten in 2025-26 include Michigan's Yaxel Lendeborg, USC's Chad Baker-Mazara, Oregon's Nate Bittle, Wisconsin's John Blackwell, Northwestern's Nick Martinelli, Indiana's Tayton Conerway, Ohio State's Bruce Thornton and Penn State's Yanic Konan Niederhauser.

Most of the above players I would expect back in the Big Ten next season, with Lendeborg a potential outlier (and the UAB transfer staying in the draft would be a big blow to the Wolverines).

The rest of the Big Ten players among the early entrants I simply don't expect to see on a college basketball roster again..

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