The start of the 2026-27 season is approaching, and with it comes a wave of excitement around the draft space for the players who are about to make their college debuts. Scouts around the world are preparing for the influx of new talent by poring over high school film, FIBA tape, and AAU tournaments to try to get a handle on the new kids on the block.
However, there’s much more to the NBA Draft than just the fresh new faces—which can lead to the spotlight fading away from some of the returning players.
For the past few years, I’ve been compiling this Editor’s Notes series on some of the players who have gotten less time in the No Ceilings written spotlight during the season. This offseason edition is a little bit different; I’ve decided instead to revisit five of my favorite prospects who ended up withdrawing from the 2026 NBA Draft. Two of them have found new homes in the transfer portal, while the other three remained with their blue-blood squads from last year in the hopes of making more noise in the NCAA Tournament. All five of them have pivotal seasons ahead of them.
Simply put, I have some notes.
Let’s start with the player I might be more bullish on than anyone else covering the NBA Draft.
Tounde Yessoufou
As I wrote about a few months ago, it is pretty much impossible for me to be objective about Tounde Yessoufou. I’ll do my best for the sake of the article, but I think there are plenty of unbiased reasons to be excited about what he might be able to do with St. John’s and Rick Pitino this coming season.
Yessoufou, the all-time scoring leader in California state high school history, transferred from Baylor after setting the freshman scoring record for that program. He is already an NBA-ready athlete with a chiseled frame who can get to the rim almost at will. He’s not just a downhill force, though; he’s also a master of the mid-range game:
