The 2026 NBA Draft’s withdrawal deadline was Wednesday night, with dozens of prospects making their officials decisions on whether to join or return to college.The ’26 draft has long been thought of as the top class in decades, and while the best four in AJ Dybantsa, Cameron Boozer, Darryn Peterson and Caleb Wilson still offer elite prospects, the mid-to-late first round and second round has thinned somewhat due to NIL.The class took another hit on Wednesday, when all of Tyler Tanner, Jeremy Fears Jr., Milan Momcilovic, Amari Allen, Billy Richmond III and Andrej Stojakovic announced intentions to return to college hours before the deadline.Those decisions left two highlight players with just an hour remaining: Baylor’s Tounde Yessoufou, in addition to Arkansas’ guard Meleek Thomas. As of midnight CT, word of Thomas’s decision has yet to appear, though Yessoufou’s sent a ripple effect across social media.Yessoufou will be officially opting out of the 2026 NBA Draft and joining head coach Rick Pitino and St. John’s for next season. Once thought of to be a potential lottery talent, his move is certainly an interesting one.In any other season, Yessoufou would’ve been seen as a worthy gamble in the first round. Though the depth of the 2026 class made things interesting. He averaged 17.8 points on 47% shooting, adding 5.9 rebounds, 1.6 assists and 2.0 steals per game.At 6-foot-5 with immense strength, Yessoufou is one of the more physically built wings in the country, able to slash to the rim and play-make on the defensive end of the floor. His counting stats alone at Baylor were eye-popping, with him able to impact both ends of the floor with consistency alonsgide fellow draft prospect Cameron Carr.Still, there's plenty for Yessoufou to work on in the calendar year before the 2027 NBA Draft, and he'll now have ample chances at doing so as St. John's premier player, opposed to an end-of-bench piece in the NBA.Yessoufou firstly needs to see a shooting boost, honing his jump-shooting in general, and likely needing to cut out tough mid-range shots in their entirety. To that end, his decision-making as a whole could stand to get better, which could certainly come with a second season in college basketball.With work, Yessoufou could again earn lottery looks in a seemingly less grand 2027 class. Though NIL as a whole has left the crop looking much better than it did a month ago, with all of Motiejus Krivas, Thomas Haugh, Tyler Tanner and plenty more set to return.Add us as a preferred source on GoogleFollow