Yesterday we covered the deadline for college players to withdraw from the 2023 NBA Draft, but of course it went all the way down to the 10:59PM Central deadline.

Now, if you’re wondering things like “when is the NBA Draft,” “how to watch the NBA Draft,” “NBA Draft betting odds,” or “what is the NBA Draft order,” use a search engine, but I can tell you that the NBA Draft will take place on Thursday, June 23rd at 7:00 PM central. I’m neither your TV provider nor your bookie, so take those other questions somewhere else.

Without further ado, here’s the Big Ten players who stayed in the draft:

• Jalen Hood-Schifino, Trayce Jackson-Davis, Indiana Hoosiers
• Kobe Bufkin, Jett Howard, Michigan Wolverines
• Brice Sensabaugh, Ohio State
• Chase Audige, Northwestern
• Kris Murray, Iowa
• Seth Lundy, Penn State

Below are the Big Ten players who officially announced their withdrawal from the draft:

• Cliff Omoruyi, Rutgers
• Kesei Tominaga, Nebraska
• Boo Buie, Northwestern (announced previously)
• Jaden Akins, AJ Hoggard, Michigan State
• Zach Edey, Purdue
• Terrence Shannon, Jr., Coleman Hawkins, Illinois

Maryland‘s Hakim Hart also withdrew his name, but that just means he’s going to Villanova.

There remains one Big Ten player whose plans are still unknown:

Rutgers guard Paul Mulcahy, who is the absolute funniest possible person to be the last remaining unknown given his draft stock.

In Big Ten-adjacent news, Toledo Rockets guard RayJ Dennis also withdrew from the draft; he is in the transfer portal and has been linked to Illinois and Michigan, among others across the country such as Baylor and (confusingly) Utah. Dennis will announce his destination at noon Central today.

Winners

Purdue and Michigan State immediately became the clear favorites for the upcoming season’s Big Ten championship. The Boilers will basically return their entire Big Ten title team, which is built around a very tall guy to the greatest extent that a Purdue team has ever been. A year of experience may be enough for their freshman guards to grow enough as sophomores to win games against opponents committed to stopping Edey.

Michigan State returned two veteran guards from the longest-lived B1G team of this year’s NCAA Tournament. They’ll add a recruiting class that boasts three national top-40 players including 5-star center Xavier Booker. Erstwhile Spartans contributor Green Akers believes this is Tom Izzo’s last opportunity to have The Year.

Illinois has to be counted among the winners, but not to as great an extent as the other two. Hawkins will be the first Brad Underwood recruit to play four years at Illinois, and over the last month of the season he really took control of the team. Shannon is a relentless on-ball defender who can on occasion completely turn a game around by himself, even against elite competition. I’ll bump them up to the Purdue/MSU tier if Dennis commits to Illinois, providing the veteran point guard Illinois desperately needed last year.

Nebraska fans get another season of certified joy-to-watch Kesei Tominaga, so they might be the biggest winner in all of this.

Mixed Bag

Northwestern has to be delighted to get Boo Buie back, but Audige must have heard something promising from some NBA teams because his decision to stay in the draft is otherwise a head-scratcher as far as I’m concerned.

Rutgers is up in the air as Mulcahy provides a bigger head-scratcher than Audige.

Losers

It’s hard to categorically say these teams lost, because few fans of Iowa, Ohio State, Indiana and Penn State thought their guys were coming back by the time yesterday came around.

Michigan also didn’t have this delusion, but Bufkin and especially Howard’s declarations came as a surprise after a disappointing season. Hunter Dickinson talking shit about Michigan’s NIL situation on his way out surely didn’t help matters.

Paul Mulcahy also has to go in the “Losers” heading.

Principal Takeaway

Of the guys that weren’t clear-cut first-rounders, it seems most were told that their game being good in the Big Ten had nothing to do with the NBA because Big Ten basketball isn’t even the same sport. I’m genuinely surprised about Shannon, since he performed well enough in the combine to be considered a late draft pick unanimously. What is clear, however, is that this is becoming another great day for theatrics on social media. I’m not necessarily against it; it’s just some more fun you can have as a basketball player. Coleman Hawkins actively trolled Illini fans throughout the day before announcing an hour before the deadline. If you can be the main character on Twitter without doing a bad thing, you take that opportunity.