University of Kansas Kansas Jayhawks fail to snare NBA Combine invitations; G League camp still pending Kansas seniors Hunter Dickinson, Zeke Mayo, Dajuan Harris and Shakeel Moore were not among the 75 players invited Friday to the 2025 NBA Combine, set for May 11-18 at Wintrust Arena and the Marriott Marquis Hotel in Chicago. It remains to be seen if any of the Jayhawks off the 2024-25 roster will be asked to attend the NBA G League Elite Camp set for May 9-11, also at Wintrust Arena in the Windy City. In all, 45 yet-to-be-determined draft hopefuls will be invited to the G League event.
A select number of standout players from G League Elite Camp traditionally have been invited to remain in Chicago for the NBA Draft Combine. There is still a slight chance 6-foot-4 combo guard Mayo could return to KU for a fifth college season. He has entered his name in the NCAA transfer portal with a no-contact tag in case there are new eligibility rulings adopted by the NCAA in the next few weeks.
“Due to the pending NCAA rules, I have been advised to enter my name into the transfer portal. I am still focused on pursuing professional options,” Mayo wrote on social media site X on April 21. Mayo played one season (2024-25) at KU after three seasons at South Dakota State.
He recently competed at the Portsmouth Invitational for college seniors/NBA prospects. Mayo in three games at the Portsmouth event averaged 11.3 points per game. Overall he was 12 of 24 shooting for 50% and also 8 of 16 on 3-pointers for 50%.
K-State’s David N’Guessan and Missouri’s Tamar Bates, who both played in the Portsmouth event, also were not invited to the NBA Combine on Friday. Melvin Council Jr., a 6-4 senior-to-be transfer out of St. Bonaventure, who recently signed a financial aid agreement to play one season at KU, also did not receive a Combine invitation on Friday. Council, who has entered his name in the NBA Draft pool, still could be invited to G League Elite camp.
If Council wishes to remain eligible to play at KU during the 2025-26 season, he must remove his name from the draft pool by Wednesday, May 28. A pair of NBA Draft early-entry candidates who have entered the transfer portal and have KU on their list of prospective schools — Darrion Williams of Texas Tech and RJ Luis of St. John’s — have been invited to attend the NBA Draft Combine. Big 12 players to receive Combine invitations on Friday were: Carter Bryant, Arizona; Egor Demin, BYU; VJ Edgecombe, Baylor; Javon Small, West Virginia; Milos Uzan, Houston.
Jonathan Givony of ESPN.com believes Caleb Grill of Missouri could receive a G League camp invitation as well as Big 12 players Caleb Love (Arizona) and Curtis Jones (Iowa State), who were snubbed by Combine officials. As set forth in the Collective Bargaining Agreement, all invited players are required to attend and participate in the NBA Draft Combine. The NBA may excuse an invited player’s attendance or participation at the Draft Combine and require the player to complete Draft Combine activities at a later date.
CBSsports.com recently commented on the NBA chances of KU seniors Dickinson and Harris: “I never want to definitively rule out any player’s NBA prospects. But I’d say it’s more likely than not that Harris and Dickinson don’t stick in the NBA as part of anything more than occasional G Leaguers who bounce between there and the big show,” wrote Adam Finkelstein and Kyle Boone of CBSsports.com. “Harris is a savvy lead guard but his shooting has trailed off each of the last three seasons.
Dickinson just doesn’t have the lateral ability to move like an NBA big nor the athletic pop to consistently contest at or around the rim. I’d rank them as two-way talents somewhere outside the top 60,” the CBS duo added.
