The withdrawal deadline for early entry candidates in the 2025 NBA Draft has come and gone, with 50 total players electing to remove their names from those in the available draft pool.
The Big Ten is losing some major talent to this year’s draft with Rutgers’ Dylan Harper and Ace Bailey, Illinois’ Kasparas Jakucionis and Will Riley, Maryland’s Derik Queen, Michigan’s Danny Wolf, Michigan State’s Jase Richardson and Wisconsin’s John Tonje being eligible for selection.
But plenty of players with additional eligibility remaining have elected to return to college for the upcoming 2025-26 season. Here’s the five Big Ten withdrawals and what that decision means for their team:
Barring a very substantial jump from any incoming transfers, Bittle returning is easily the biggest offseason news for the Ducks. He’s improved every year he’s been in Eugene and was among the very best centers in the conference and projects to make a similar impact next season.
* **John Blackwell G - Wisconsin**
Tonje stole the show in Madison last year, but don’t let Blackwell’s excellence fly under the radar. He was fantastic in limited minutes as a freshman and made the leap as a sophomore to become a true impact player. If his shooting improves, he’ll be one of the very best guards in the Big Ten.
* **Tayton Conerway G - Indiana**
Conerway transferred to Indiana from Troy to play for first-year coach Darian DeVries and projects as the Hoosiers’ starting point guard in 2025-26. With his ability to pressure opposing ballhandlers and set up teammates, he could easily be the most important piece on Indiana’s roster this season.
* **Nick Martinelli F - Northwestern**
Martinelli took a massive, necessary leap last season to help an injury-plagued Northwestern squad keep its head above water in the closing weeks of conference play while managing to steal a game in the Big Ten Tournament. Blossoming into a go-to scoring option as one of the best players in the conference, He’ll be key to the Wildcats’ fortunes this season.
* **Bruce Thornton Jr. G - Ohio State**
Thornton, who averaged 17.7 points, 3.4 rebounds and 4.6 assists for the Buckeyes last season, is the highlight of this list. His return is massive for Ohio State, with a bit of a qualifier.
He has yet to log a single minute of NCAA Tournament play in three stellar seasons. That’s incredibly out of the ordinary for Ohio State and needs to get fixed this year. Thornton is good enough to take them there, but he needs the pieces around him to do it.