The 2025 NBA Draft is less than a month away, and the deadline for players to keep their names in the draft or return to school for the 2025-26 college basketball season is on the horizon. Players have until Wednesday at 11:59 p.m. ET to withdraw from the draft and maintain college eligibility under the NCAA deadline.

Some players have already made their intentions known well ahead of Wednesday’s deadline. Washington State star Cedric Coward — a projected first-round pick in next month’s draft — will never play a game for Duke after committing to the program out of the transfer portal. Coward has seen his draft stock soar in recent weeks after a standout performance at the NBA Draft Combine and will stay in the draft.

One of the surprises of the deadline came Tuesday when former UAB star Yaxel Lendeborg elected to bypass the draft to return to college for another season, where he will suit up for Michigan. Lendeborg ranks as the No. 1 player in the 247Sports transfer portal rankings and will play for coach Dusty May in Ann Arbor after withdrawing from the draft process on Tuesday.

Here is the latest on who’s staying in college and who’s chasing their NBA dreams.

Notable NBA Draft decision yet to be made

Notable late NBA Draft decisions

RJ Luis Jr., St. John’s 

Big Board ranking: 71

Draft decision: Staying in the draft

It’s not surprising that Luis is staying in the draft, but after entering the transfer portal after a breakout season at St. John’s, it appeared staying in college could be on the table. Instead, Luis is turning pro. Luis has protectable tools as a 6-foot-7 wing to make an impact at the NBA level, but he will likely slide to the second round of the draft. — Cameron Salerno

Miles Byrd, San Diego State

Big Board ranking: 52

Draft decision: Returning to San Diego State

Byrd is coming off a breakout 2024-25 campaign but still needs more time in college to maximize his stock. Byrd started 30 games and averaged career-highs in points, steals, blocks, assists and rebounds. He should be a candidate to become a first-round pick in 2026 alongside his teammate, Magoon Gwath. — Salerno

2025 NBA Draft: Florida’s Alex Condon headlines list of five declared prospects who should return to school

Cameron Salerno

Otega Oweh, Kentucky

Big Board ranking: NR

Draft decision: Returning to Kentucky

Oweh is coming back to Kentucky. The former Oklahoma guard transferred to Kentucky last offseason and enjoyed the best season of his career. Oweh averaged 16.2 points, 4.7 rebounds and 1.7 assists. Returning to school is the right decision and is a huge win for coach Mark Pope. — Salerno

Otega Oweh withdraws from NBA Draft: Kentucky’s top player returns, gives Mark Pope a loaded roster for Year 2

Matt Norlander

Adou Thiero, Arkansas

Big Board ranking: 40

Draft decision: Staying in the draft

Arkansas coach John Calipari will rely on Thiero this summer to keep his streak of consecutive drafts with a first-round selection. Calipari has had a player selected in the first round since 2008, which dates back to his time at Memphis. Thiero is a fringe first-round pick who could see a boost in his stock due to other players returning to school. — Salerno

Tahaad Pettiford, Auburn

Big Board ranking: 27

Draft decision: Returning to Auburn

Pettiford returning to school isn’t much of a surprise. It’s the right decision. He was going to be a fringe first-round pick. Instead, he gets the chance to return to Auburn and will get the keys to the offense and an NIL deal worth more than $2 million, a source told CBS Sports’ Matt Norlander. 

He was a microwave scorer off the bench last season, and his role will increase drastically. Pettiford should be a sleeper All-American candidate. — Salerno

Tahaad Pettiford withdraws from NBA Draft: Sophomore guard returns to Auburn after Final Four season

Matt Norlander

Jamir Watkins, Florida State

Big Board ranking: 68

Draft decision: Staying in the draft

After entering the transfer portal after two seasons at Florida State, Watkins is remaining in the draft. This is somewhat of a surprising move, as Watkins projects as a mid-to-late second-round selection. Watkins drew interest in the transfer portal from various teams. —Salerno

Nate Bittle, Oregon

Big Board ranking: NR  

Draft decision: Returning to Oregon

Bittle withdrew from the NBA Draft and will return to Oregon for his senior season. The 7-foot, 240-pound center is one of the elite stretch bigs in all of college basketball. He shot 40% from 3-point range in Big Ten play while notching the second-best block percentage in league play. Bittle was a Third Team All-Big Ten selection this past season.

The big man’s return gives Oregon one of the elite duos in all of college basketball. Purdue’s point guard-big man combination of Braden Smith and Trey Kaufman-Renn may be the only point guard-big man pairing that is better than Bittle and lead guard Jackson Shelstad. — Isaac Trotter  

Yaxel Lendeborg, Michigan

Big Board ranking: 43  

Draft decision: Withdrawing from draft, transferring to Michigan

Lendeborg, a projected first-round pick in two recent mock drafts by CBS Sports, will headline one of the premier transfer portal classes in college basketball at Michigan, which ranks second behind St. John’s in the 247Sports recruiting rankings.

Lendeborg received a NIL package believed to be in the neighborhood of $3 million to return to school, sources indicated to CBS Sports. He led Division l in double-doubles at UAB last season. — Salerno

Projected first-round pick Yaxel Lendeborg to withdraw from 2025 NBA Draft, will transfer to Michigan

Shanna McCarriston

Alex Condon, Florida

Big Board ranking: 56  

Draft decision: Returning to Florida

One of the biggest offseason wins for the reigning national champions came on the eve of the withdrawal deadline when Condon announced his return to Florida. Condon was Florida’s starting center last season but will benefit by returning to school for another season. He will enter next season as a projected first-round pick in the 2026 draft. — Salerno

Alex Condon returns to Florida: Gators may have top frontcourt after big man withdraws from 2025 NBA Draft

Austin Nivison

Cedric Coward, Washington State/Duke

Big Board ranking: 18 

Draft decision: Staying in the 2025 NBA Draft

One of the biggest winners of the NBA Draft Combine was Coward, so it’s not surprising that he will never play a game for Duke. Coward played in just seven games last season for Washington State and averaged 17.7 points, 7.0 rebounds and 3.7 assists.

Coward began his career at the Division III level and had a two-year stint at Eastern Washington before transferring to WSU. Coward projected as a first-round pick in multiple mock drafts by CBS Sports. — Salerno

Cedric Coward to remain in NBA Draft: Duke roster rounds into shape as prized transfer elects to go pro

Carter Bahns

Milos Uzan, Houston

Big Board ranking: 45  

Draft decision: Returning to Houston

Uzan took a significant step forward during his first year at Houston. He was the Cougars’ best 3-point shooter, connecting on 42.8% from beyond the arc. But outside of his performance against Purdue in the Sweet 16 — which saw him score a game-winning bucket to help the Cougars advance — he didn’t have his best showing in the NCAA Tournament. 

Houston projects as a preseason top-three team heading into the 2025-26 campaign. Getting Uzan back helps the Cougars make the case for preseason No. 1 this fall. — Salerno

Karter Knox, Arkansas

Big Board ranking: NR  

Draft decision: Returning to Arkansas

Knox, the brother of former Kentucky star and lottery pick Kevin Knox ll, played for the same coach his brother did during his first season. Knox was previously committed to Kentucky before flipping to follow coach John Calipari to Arkansas.

Knox should be in line for a larger role in Year 2. He averaged 8.3 points and 3.3 rebounds in 36 games for the Razorbacks. — Salerno

Karter Knox withdraws from NBA Draft: Arkansas retains talented wing as John Calipari molds Year 2 roster

Carter Bahns

PJ Haggerty, Memphis / Kansas State

Big Board ranking: 63

Draft decision: Withdrawing from draft, transferring to Kansas State

Haggerty will be at his fourth college in four years. After stops at TCU, Tulsa and, most recently, Memphis, Haggerty went through the draft process before withdrawing from the draft. Haggerty was one of the top-ranked players in the transfer portal available. He will join a Kansas State squad coming off a 16-17 showing.

Haggerty averaged 21.7 points and earned All-American honors from CBS Sports. — Salerno

No stranger to splash additions, is Kansas State’s roster ready to support blockbuster transfer PJ Haggerty?

Isaac Trotter

Darrion Williams, NC State

Big Board ranking: 44 

Draft decision: Returning to school, transferring to NC State

Williams was one of the heroes of Texas Tech’s run to the Elite Eight this past spring. After declaring for the draft while simultaneously entering the transfer portal, Williams decided to remove his name from draft consideration and committed to NC State.

Williams’ commitment is part of a roster overhaul at NC State for first-year coach Will Wade. — Salerno

Darrion Williams commits to NC State: Wolfpack add March Madness star, continue to load up under Will Wade

Zachary Pereles

After beginning with 64, the NCAA Softball Tournament is down to eight teams. Oklahoma City now takes center stage for the Women’s College World Series, just a few games away from crowning a 2025 national champion.

Thursday afternoon is when action will begin from Devon Park. Before then, FanDuel has released odds on who will ultimately emerge as the last team standings.

Not much shock is there with the overall favorite, considering the last four events have resulted in them winning. You can check out the full odds list here, beginning with a run of teams from the SEC.

There were questions about Oklahoma entering the SEC despite four consecutive national championships. Patty Gasso’s team has done nothing but respond with a conference regular season title and winning the SEC Tournament, even if it was via a rainout.

Now, the Sooners are the clear-cut favorite to once again win in Oklahoma City. Some great dynasties have emerged over the years in college athletics but few would compare to OU’s five straight.

Two of the last three seasons have resulted in Texas finishing runner-up. Losing to its Red River rival on both occasions only makes the matter even more heartbreaking, still seeking a first national championship.

Advancing to the championship series is going to be quite the difficult task this go-round. Oddsmakers give Texas the second-best chance but by a wide margin.

Florida is the No. 3 overall seed in the NCAA Tournament and finds itself in a similar position in the Women’s College World Series, from an odds perspective. Two other teams are ranked ahead of them and are even in the same bracket.

The national championship drought has officially reached a decade, last winning in 2015. Florida can cap off what has been a great year for the athletic department with a softball title.

Tennessee begins its Women’s College World Series run against Oklahoma on Thursday. Maybe the matchup is pushing the Lady Vols down the list despite taking a series from the Sooners in Norman during the regular season.

Just one loss is on the Tennessee postseason resume. A perfect Knoxville Regional was almost upended by Nebraska before winning Games 2 and 3 of the Super Regional.

Heavy investment in softball has paid off for Texas Tech. Particularly with pitcher NiJaree Canady, who pitched 14.0 innings against Florida State in the Super Regional, giving up just five hits and one earned run.

Canady’s brilliance is going to be needed moving forward in Oklahoma City for the Red Raiders to continue their journey. From an odds perspective, Texas Tech breaks up the run of SEC programs.

The first of two Big Ten teams sitting at +2500, Oregon will open with UCLA on Thursday. A regular season series did occur in Eugene as the Ducks took two of three.

That took place around a month ago. Stakes are completely different too, wanting to start out the WCWS with an incredibly valuable win.

Much of the same is true for UCLA, who come in with the same odds as their conference rival. A trip out East will have them forgetting what took place in late April.

Thursday night, scheduled first pitch at 9:30 p.m. ET, is a fitting start time for two West Coast teams facing off. Hopefully, the actual game itself provides in the same way.

Of the eight Women’s College World Series teams, seven of them were national seeds. Ole Miss is the lone wolf, advancing through the Tucson Regional and then beating Arkansas in Fayetteville during the Super Regional.

Avoiding the four other SEC teams to start could be an advantage, giving Ole Miss fresh faces on the other side. Even so, FanDuel is not too keen on their chances of winning first-ever national championship.

NIL has officially taken over college football. That won’t be a surprise to any college football fan, but every day that passes it seems like NIL is becoming more and more of a problem in the sport.

While many fans, analysts and coaches have a lot of issues with NIL, a new detail about how teams are using NIL has surfaced that might the the biggest problem to date. And none other than Kirby Smart is the one who shared this new NIL detail.

The House vs. NCAA settlement has been central to conversations around college football this offseason. If approved, it could drastically change the sport as we know it.

The settlement covers many facets of college athletics. It certainly impacts the FBS, both the Power Four and the Group of Five, as well as the FCS and other divisions of football and other sports. But details still need to be finalized, and that’s assuming the entire deal doesn’t fall apart or is delayed beyond the upcoming school year.

Here’s more about the House v. NCAA Settlement.

House vs. NCAA Settlement Details

House v. NCAA is a legal case that revolves around the payment of college athletes. Once approved, this would allow schools to pay athletes directly for the first time.

While this does bring even more change to an already chaotic aspect to college sports, some hope that this brings about more stability in the long-term. This, some believe, will allow the NCAA or other governing bodies to enforce more regulations regarding how athletes are paid.

Many schools have already opted into the House settlement, meaning they are on board with how the case shakes out and will eventually pay college athletes directly. 

But some have opted out, meaning they won’t pay athletes themselves. While that will save the schools money, it will likely impact their recruiting efforts and therefore their performance during competitions.

NIL House Settlement Back Pay

The House settlement would result in the NCAA and Division I schools paying $2.78 billion in back pay for students who competed in sports between 2016-24.

The House v. NCAA case materialized after collegiate basketball player Sedona Prince and swimmer Grant House, among other college athletes, filed a lawsuit five years ago saying that the NCAA and the power conferences unified against paying athletes and prevented them from profiting off their names, images, and likenesses (NIL).

Do Schools Opting Out Of The House Settlement Have To Provide Back Pay?

All Division I schools will have to contribute money toward back damages as a result of the House settlement, regardless if they opt into it. However, most or all of that for some schools could be taken out of the money normally disbursed from NCAA events like the NCAA Tournaments in men’s and women’s basketball.

Where House Settlement Money Will Come From

As for the $2.78 billion in back damages, the NCAA is to pay 60% of it while 40% of it will come from schools themselves. That’s to be paid out over 10 years. A good portion of the schools’ payments will come out of money that usually goes to them for NCAA competitions.

Schools can also pay students for NIL rights at a maximum of 22% of annual revenue that comes from broadcast deals and tickets.

How that back pay is dolled out hasn’t been widely publicized, though a vast majority is expected to go to football and basketball players. Specifics are to be hammered out by the plaintiffs in the case.

House v. NCAA Settlement NIL Cap

Several sources estimate a cap for how much schools will pay athletes directly will be established and that number would be $20.5 million per institution. That number would go up about 4% per year.

That wouldn’t be a minimum in this instance, just a maximum.

NCAA vs. House Settlement Update

Many expected the House settlement to have gone into effect by now, but that hasn’t happened yet.

It seemed federal judge Claudia Wilken, who oversaw other cases related to college athletics like O’Bannon v. NCAA, was going to approve the settlement. But after hearing from walk-on athletes who would’ve lost their roster spots, the case hit a roadblock.

The House settlement was going to change scholarship limits to roster limits, meaning many athletes on teams who aren’t on scholarships – also called walk-ons – would no longer be capable of participating on their teams.

Wilken reportedly wants to change these roster limit rules, accounting for current walk-ons and grandfathering them in. At the moment, schools seem unwilling to budge much on this as many had already accounted for the changes they believed were imminent.