Kobe Brown to stay in the NBA Draft, forgo final season in Columbia

UPDATE: Kobe Brown announced he is staying in the draft, confirming previous reports:

After weeks of speculation, Kobe Brown has elected to keep his name in the NBA Draft pool and forgot another year of eligibility at Missouri as CBS Sports’ Matt Norlander first reported.

Brown, a projected second-round pick by most sources, saw his draft stock rise throughout the 2022-23 season as he lead the Tigers in scoring and rebounding. Perhaps the most drastic improvement Brown made this past season was in his ability to shoot from behind the arc. After not making more than 20 three-pointers or shooting better than 25% from that range in his first three seasons, Brown sunk 51 shots from deep on 45.5% shooting from behind the arc. NBA scouts clearly took notice, and it seemed to be the final piece missing in his game.

The résumé for Mr. Brown is quite extensive. After landing on the All-SEC Second Team in 2021-22, Brown followed that up by landing on the first team this past year. He was also a second-team Academic All-American in 2022-23, the first Mizzou basketball player to ever achieve that status. Brown also landed on the SEC Academic Honor Roll in each of his first three seasons.

Dennis Gates and Co. will now be tasked with replacing the immense production and leadership that Brown provided to this program for years. Veterans such as Nick Honor, Noah Carter and Sean East II will likely be expected to take on larger roles in the locker room as a result.

Best of luck to Kobe Brown as he pursues his dream of playing professionally. He will always be a Tiger and truly represented the university in the right way on and off the court.