Where do Miami's Star Players Stand on the Final NBA Draft Board
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The 2026 NBA Draft is less than 48 hours away, with many star players set to realize their basketball dreams as they are selected and head to the pros.
Others might have to play the waiting game to see where they are headed and whether they will even get drafted at all. This draft is one of the shortest around, with the number of players that have returned to college instead of taking a chance on the draft similar to previous years.
However, three Miami Hurricanes have run out of eligibility and now look to find themselves on an NBA roster or an invite to a G-League team in the coming days.
Malik Reneau, Tre Donaldson, and Ernest Udeh proved to be great assets for Miami, but can they also prove that at the professional level?
Each player has their own traits that stand out, but with how limited the two-day draft process is, they are already projected to fall out of the first two rounds in ESPN's Final Big Draft Board.
Donaldson ranks as No. 71, followed by Udeh at No. 72 and Reneau at No. 86. They have already been practicing with other teams around the country, being invited for private workouts, but it looks like those teams will have to use them on their G-League rosters, hoping that some time and development will get them ready for the next level.
The Draft is only 60 selections during the process in Brooklyn, NY, this season. June 23-24 will be massive days in the careers of this one-year Canes that changed the prospect of a program left for dead.
As the latest batch of players looks towards the Draft, the Hurricanes' history of players being selected has been up and down since the university revived the basketball program in 1985.
Since then, there have been some great players to hit the NBA, while others are still finding their way on a roster, playing overseas, or retiring from the sport.
Moreover, this is just the first batch of players from the Jai Lucas era, with many more and a projected lottery pick next season to come.
This history of the Hurricanes at the NBA draft is prepared for an interesting turn of events over the next few cycles, with more and more names likely coming from that pot of players that Lucas will recruit.
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Justice Sandle is a graduate of Mississippi State University earning a Bachelor of Arts and Science in Communications with a concentration in Print and Digital Journalism. During his time in Starkville, he spent a year as an intern working for Mississippi State On SI primarily covering basketball, football, baseball, and soccer while writing, recording, and creating multimedia stories during his tenor. Since graduating, he has assumed the role of lead staff writer for Miami Hurricanes On SI covering football, basketball, baseball, and all things Hurricanes related.
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