UNC's Henri Veesaar Makes Final Decision on NBA Draft

Veesaar will remain in the draft and forgo his remaining college eligibility.

North Carolina's Henri Veesaar will remain in the NBA draft. | Bob Donnan-Imagn Images

North Carolina big man Henri Veesaar will forgo his remaining eligibility and remain in the NBA draft, according to a report from Matt Norlander of CBS Sports. 

Friday was the last day for prospects to declare their intent for next season. Veesaar, who previously declared with the option to return to school, will remain in the draft and will not return to North Carolina to play under new coach Mike Malone.

In 31 starts last season at North Carolina, Veesaar averaged 17.0 points, 8.7 rebounds, 2.1 assists and 1.2 blocks per contest. After spending three seasons at Arizona, including one redshirt year, Veesaar had one year of eligibility remaining at the college level. But after his best season to-date, and with North Carolina under a period of transition with the program moving on from the Hubert Davis era, Veesaar passed up considerable NIL opportunities at the college level to move on to the NBA. Veesaar had the option to remain at North Carolina, but also could have played for his third different school in five years had he elected to return.

Veesaar’s NBA draft outlook

While Veesaar may not be thought of as highly as teammate Caleb Wilson among this year’s crop of draft prospects, he is still widely regarded as a late-first round selection. There has to be some confidence from Veesaar’s camp that he has an opportunity to go higher than projections currently present in most mocks, especially with the kind of NIL money he could have made at the college level to play a final season.

While Veesaar is not an elite athlete, he’s a capable defender who will be able to offer rim protection at the NBA level. He also shot 60.8% from the field last season, including a career-best 42.6% mark from three, showing the ability to stretch the floor—a must in today’s NBA.

What’s next for North Carolina?

Carolina will be a different looking team next season, relying heavily on backcourt and wing athleticism. Carolina has landed four transfers so far, including forward Maxim Logue from FAU, wing Neoklis Avdalas from Virginia Tech, guard Matt Able from NC State and Terrence Brown from Utah. In addition, the Tar Heels welcome four-star freshman wing Maximo Adams.

It’s a solid transfer class for the ‘Heels, but it remains to be seen whether or not the Tar Heels will step up in a meaningful way in Malone’s first year with the program.

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