Kansas basketball: Jalen Wilson announces he is entering the 2023 NBA Draft

Jalen Wilson, one of the best and most accomplished players in recent Kansas basketball history, has declared he is entering the 2023 NBA Draft.

After a legendary career with the Kansas Jayhawks, this year’s Big 12 Player of the Year is onto his next chapter. Wilson will finish his career with KU averaging 14.2 points, 7.7 rebounds, and 1,475 total points. He was also a consensus First Team All-American and was a crucial piece to the 2022 national championship-winning team.

This announcement was expected from Wilson in the coming days. The Jayhawks’ leading scorer was the first player to average 20 or more points per game since the Wooden Award winner Frank Mason III.

It is all but guaranteed that Wilson will have his name in the rafters of Allen Fieldhouse one day. College basketball insider Jon Rothstein reported that he should have his jersey number retired in the future.

His career did not end how he wanted to, and he did not have a final sendoff with Bill Self at the helm. However, he will always be a champion in the history books.

Wilson’s size and versatile offensive skillset make him an intriguing NBA prospect. He stands at 6-foot-8-inches and can score from anywhere on the floor. Most mock drafts project him as a pick in the late first or early second round.

He joins Gradey Dick as the second of Kansas players to enter the NBA Draft this off-season. Those two are sure-fire draftees, but the same can not be said of Kevin McCullar, who could go undrafted.

The announcement officially thins the Kansas basketball roster for next season. It will be hard to replace a 20-point-per-game scorer like Wilson, but what is even more difficult is to replace his leadership. He showed nothing but class in his time as a Jayhawk — Wilson is the blueprint of what all Kansas players should strive for.

We wish the best to Jalen Wilson and his future success during his NBA career. He will add to KU’s long list of alum who made the pros.