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Michigan will be well-represented at the 2023 NBA Draft on June 22.
According to ESPN’s Jonathan Givony, Kobe Bufkin and Jett Howard are among the 19 draft prospects who have received invitations to the green room at next week’s draft in Brooklyn. Both players are expected to be first-round selections. The backcourt duo ranks No. 18 (Bufkin) and No. 19 (Howard) overall on ESPN’s big board of draft prospects.
This year, players are allowed to bring up to 10 people with them to sit at their individual tables in the staging area inside the venue (the “green room”). According to ESPN, invites are extended after NBA team presidents and general managers vote on the 25 players they expect to be drafted first.
Michigan has had multiple players selected in each of the last 2 drafts. Caleb Houstan and Moussa Diabaté were both taken in the second round of the 2022 NBA Draft. Franz Wagner was a first-round choice in 2021 while Isaiah Livers was taken in the second.
Since 2013, Michigan has had 9 first-round selections. Nik Stauskas and Mitch McGary were the last Michigan duo to hear their names called in the first round of the same draft in 2014.
Indiana’s Jalen Hood-Schifino has also reportedly received a green room invite. The full list of reported invitees is below:
A 2nd batch of nine NBA Draft green room invites was sent out today, multiple sources told ESPN:
Bilal Coulibaly
Cason Wallace
Nick Smith
Dereck Lively
Kobe Bufkin
Jalen Hood-Schifino
Jett Howard
Jordan Hawkins
Keyonte GeorgeAll top-19 of ESPN's top-100 were invited thus far. https://t.co/YF5Ze2cfms pic.twitter.com/YBb8Awb12Z
— Jonathan Givony (@DraftExpress) June 13, 2023
Derek Peterson does a bit of everything, not unlike Taysom Hill. He has covered Oklahoma, Nebraska, the Pac-12, and now delivers CFB-wide content.