Former Texas Tech Red Raider Kevin McCullar exits NBA Draft, will play for KU Jayhawks

Former Texas Tech shooting guard Kevin McCullar has decided to remove his name from the 2022 NBA Draft pool and continue his college basketball career at Kansas.

McCullar, a 6-foot-6, 210-pound native of San Antonio, Texas, announced his decision to exit the draft just after 6:30 p.m. Wednesday on Twitter.

“I’m a Jayhawk. See you soon Lawrence!#Rockchalk,” he wrote on Twitter.

Players had until 11 p.m. Wednesday to exit the draft if they wished to play college ball in 2022-23. With Jalen Wilson’s decision to return to KU next season, the Jayhawks have all 13 scholarships filled.

He declared for the draft on March 27. A month later he entered his name in the transfer portal, eventually choosing KU on May 19 over runner-up Gonzaga. He has two years of college eligibility remaining.

McCullar played the last three seasons at Texas Tech after redshirting in 2018-19.

“I am super excited. I can’t explain how excited I am to be a Jayhawk,” McCullar told The Star in a phone interview. “Getting my feedback from different teams, putting all that together, I thought it was my best interests to come back and play for coach (Bill) Self who can help me reach my ultimate goal which is the NBA.”

McCullar made the decision to exit the draft Wednesday night after pondering some additional feedback from NBA officials.

“I had great workouts,” said McCullar, who was limited a bit after spraining an ankle at the NBA G League Elite Camp. “I talked to a lot of GMs and built relationships I think will be good for me in the future.”

McCullar at KU will now be a teammate of a person he called his “best friend.”

That would be Jalen Wilson, who is from Denton, Texas. McCullar is from San Antonio. Wilson also announced plans to exit the draft and return to KU for his junior season on Wednesday.

“We talked pretty much once a week while we were going through the process,” McCullar told The Star. “He’s my best friend. I’ve known him since high school, when he was committing to Michigan (then decommitting after a coaching change) in high school. We’ve been best friends a long time, playing video games, growing up together. I’m super excited he’s coming back as well.”

McCullar, who is known as an outstanding defensive player, ranked third on the Red Raider team in scoring in 2021-22 (10.1 points a game on 40.2% shooting) and second in rebounding (4.6). He hit 28 of 90 threes for 31.1%. He also made 72.5% of his free throws. McCullar dished a team-leading 89 assists against 57 turnovers.

He missed eight games because of an ankle injury, an injury that hampered him much of the season.

McCullar scored in double digits in 16 of the 29 games he played in last season and scored 20-plus points two times.

He scored 17 points on 7-of-13 shooting (1 of 4 threes) in a 78-73 season-ending loss to Duke in the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament

KU coach Self told The Star on Wednesday night he’s elated to add McCullar to the roster.

“He did get excellent feedback from the NBA,” Self said. “Several teams think he has NBA talent but would serve him well to improve his own personal stock by going back to school. We’re so excited to get a versatile player that knows how to win and can play on both ends in our program.

“We get to be the beneficiary of him going back to school,” Self added. “Kevin brings a lot to the table that certainly allows us to have a better team on both ends. Offensively he can play 1 through 4. Defensively he can guard 1 through 5.We added some versatility to the roster.”

McCullar, who had an ankle injury, did not play in Tech’s 75-67 win over KU on Jan. 8 in Lubbock, Texas. He had two points on 1-of-11 shooting and three rebounds while playing 44 minutes in a 94-91 double overtime loss to KU on Jan. 24 at Allen Fieldhouse. And he had eight points on 3-of-10 shooting with five assists and three rebounds in Tech’s 74-65 loss to KU in the finals of the Big 12 tournament on march 12

McCullar, an honorable mention all-Big 12 selection, has been working out in advance of the draft with other draft prospects in New Jersey.

Asked to describe his game by Corey Tulaba of noceilingsnba.com, McCullar said after a recent workout: “(I am) a versatile player that can do it on both ends of the floor, can guard one through four. On the offensive end, I can create my own shot and also create for others.”

“In the Big 12, you have to play everybody twice, home and away. It’s a battle every night and matching up with guys like Ochai Agbaji on a night-in basis is gonna help me (at the next level)...I’m ready to match up with anybody.”

He compared his game to that of Marcus Smart to Kyle Boone of CBSsports.com.

“Marcus Smart, the Defensive Player of the Year, he just contributes so much on the defensive end, and I feel like he’s underrated on the offensive end. So I love watching guys like that, who play on both ends of the floor,” he saidl

Coming out of high school in the class of 2019, McCullar was rated as a four-star recruit by the 247Sports staff. He was the No. 135-ranked recruit nationally, the No. 33-ranked small forward and the No. 15-ranked recruit in the state of Texas in his class. The San Antonio, Tex. native picked Texas Tech over 12 other offers from the likes of Kansas State, Louisville, Baylor, Oklahoma and TCU.