Virginia Tech forward Tobi Lawal will enter the NBA Draft while maintaining his senior year of eligibility. (Jon Fleming)
On Monday afternoon, Virginia Tech forward Tobi Lawal announced his decision to enter the NBA Draft while maintaining his final year of college eligibility.
supporting Tobi every step of the way 🦃💪
🔗 » https://t.co/m4fkdZJpgA pic.twitter.com/7GLOhdy6CC
— Virginia Tech Men’s Basketball (@HokiesMBB) April 14, 2025
“First and foremost, I want to thank God for putting me in this position and guiding me on this journey,” Lawal said in his Instagram post. “I have decided to enter the 2025 NBA Draft while maintaining my college eligibility. If I decide to return to college, I will be playing my final season in Blacksburg and proudly wearing the maroon and orange. Virginia Tech is home, and Hokie Nation is family.”
Lawal led the Hokies in scoring (12.4 points per game) and rebounding (7.0 rebounds per game) this season after transferring from VCU. He was one of four players in the ACC that did so along with Donald Hand Jr. (Boston College), Cooper Flagg (Duke) and Maxime Raynaud (Stanford).
The high-flying forward (6-8, 200) from London, England, shot 55.9 percent from the floor (128-of-229) and started 30 games. He missed the Syracuse and North Carolina contests at the end of the regular season due to illness and a lower-body injury.
Outside of that, Lawal had six double-doubles and scored in double figures 20 times. His career-high in rebounding came in a win at Florida State (13) while he had a personal-best 23 points vs. Virginia.
“He’s the best athlete I’ve had the opportunity to coach,” Tech head coach Mike Young said of Lawal and his 49.5-inch vertical earlier this season.
He’s a late bloomer who started basketball at the age of 16 after playing soccer and running track. In two seasons with the Rams, he played in 63 games, starting once. He averaged 7.7 points and 6.0 rebounds per game as a sophomore and had a solid uptick with the Hokies.
One of his biggest areas of improvement from Richmond to Blacksburg was his 3-point shooting. He was just 3-of-7 from deep at VCU and wasn’t really a threat to stretch the floor. That changed this year as he knocked down 23-of-61 triples (37.1%). He had three separate games — at No. 4 Duke, vs. NC State and at Georgia Tech — with three makes.
Lawal has until May 28 at 11:59 p.m. ET to make his decision on whether he’ll enter the draft or return to college. The draft is set for June 25 and 26, and while he isn’t expected to be selected, he can use the time until then to get feedback from NBA scouts at various combines. It’s the same route both Keve Aluma and Justyn Mutts took in 2021 and ’22, respectively, before announcing they were returning to Virginia Tech.
If Lawal comes back, the Hokies will have four familiar faces next season. Two incoming freshmen — Sin’Cere Jones and Christian Gurdak — will join the squad over the summer, though the rest of the roster additions will come through the transfer portal. Tech has already added West Virginia forward/center Amani Hansberry and Delaware guard Izaiah Pasha.