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Two days after Stephen Thompson Jr. officially withdrew his name from the 2017 NBA Draft, Oregon State forward Drew Eubanks has decided to return to school as well, as first reported by ESPN’s Jeff Goodman, via a post on his Twitter account.
Oregon State’s Drew Eubanks has withdrawn his name from the NBA draft, source told ESPN.
— Jeff Goodman (@GoodmanESPN) May 18, 2017
Eubanks is coming off a season in which he averaged 14.5 points, 8.3 rebounds, 2.2 blocks and 1.2 assists for a 5-27 Beavers squad, as the team’s leading rebounder and second-leading scorer behind the aforementioned Thompson Jr.. After both Eubanks and Thompson Jr. were not invited to the NBA Combine, it was expected that the duo would return to Corvallis. However, both players opted to stick with the draft process for a few weeks and at one point, Eubanks even remained adamant about his ability to remain in the draft and eventually impress at least one NBA team. That plan significantly changed on Thursday.
For Eubanks personally, he’ll have to begin to look forward to the 2018 NBA Draft, where his current draft stock as projected by Draft Express is as a potential mid-second round pick. For the Oregon State program, he’ll be a welcome returner to a group that will also re-insert oft-injured forward Tres Tinkle to the mix, as well as one of the more impressive recruiting hauls in head coach Wayne Tinkle’s tenure, headlined by four-star prospects Ethan Thompson and Alfred Hollins.