"I see a longer Bogdan Bogdanovic": College hoops fans react to Arizona star Carter Bryant's decision to stay in the NBA draft race

Arizona star Carter Bryant has decided to go fully in for the 2025 NBA draft, ruling out a possible return to the Wildcats, who had left a role open for him with the hope that he would rejoin the team for the 2025-26 season.

According to Bleacher Report Hoops on Instagram, the forward revealed on Wednesday that he is now completely in for the draft and is a projected lottery pick, sparking reactions from college basketball fans.

“I see a longer Bogdan Bogdanovic,” a user wrote, comparing the forward to the Los Angeles Clippers guard.

“Houston I’m begging you,” a user pleaded with the Rockets to draft Bryant.

“They are like 30 projected lottery picks 😭😭😭,” another user pointed out.

College hoops fans react to Arizona star Carter Bryant's decision to stay in the NBA draft race. Credit: IG/@br_hoops

Others made it clear that they would prefer Bryant to stay in college.

“Stay one more year gng,” a user wrote.

“Moe go back to school,” another user wrote.

“JUST A KID FROM THE BUUURBS,” someone else commented.

Bryant, who was one of the top players in the 2024 recruitment class, played college basketball for just one year with the Arizona Wildcats.

He declared for the draft and was among the 75 players invited to the 2025 NBA draft combine, which began on May 11 and will run through May 18.

With Bryant confirming that he will not return, Arizona coach Tommy Lloyd will have to search for a replacement in the NCAA transfer portal, having left his role open until now.

Bryant appeared in 37 games for the Wildcats this past season, making five starts, and he averaged 6.5 points and 4.1 rebounds in 19.3 minutes per game.

Carter Bryant projected to be first-round pick

The forward has been projected to go between the 11th and 15th pick by most NBA mock drafts, which have also projected him to be a possible lottery selection.

The last time an Arizona player was selected in the lottery was in 2022, when Bennedict Mathurin was picked sixth by the Indiana Pacers.

The first round of the draft will take place on June 25, while the second round will take place on June 26, both at the Barclays Center in New York.

About the author

Babatunde Kolawole is a college sports journalist at Sportskeeda with over eight years of experience in the field with Canoncrested.com, Garbersports.com, LiveScore Bet Nigeria and Pulse Sports Nigeria.

Kolawole studied Agricultural Economics on the tertiary level but delved into sports writing after school. Over half a decade later, the experience garnered helped him land this role.

Historically, the Alabama Crimson Tide stands out as Kolawole's favorite team as he was drawn to their rich history.

As for basketball, JuJu Watkins is Kolawole's favorite current player due to how much diversity she has in her game, while Kareem Abdul-Jabbar gets the nod for past players because of how he dominated with UCLA.

Kolawole has appeared on several TV and Radio shows as a guest analyst, and in his spare time, likes to watch movies (a sucker for the Marvel Cinematic Universe) and listen to a lot of music. He also loves to travel.

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Edited by Victor R. Lopez M.