Mackenzie Mgbako, a projected second-round pick, will withdraw from the 2025 NBA draft and spend his junior season at Texas A&M, he told ESPN’s Jonathan Givony on Tuesday.
Mackenzie Mgbako Played His First Two Seasons At Indiana
Mgbako, a former McDonald’s All-American and top-10 high school recruit in 2023, spent his first two seasons at Indiana, averaging 12.2 points and 4.3 rebounds in 65 games.
“I decided to withdraw to focus on becoming a lock first-round pick next year,” Mgbako said. “I am committed to making the improvements to my game based upon feedback from NBA teams.”
Welcome to Aggieland, Mackenzie Mgbako 🏡
➡️ Highest-ranked recruit in Texas A&M history
➡️ McDonald’s All-American
➡️ 5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
➡️ Big 10 Freshman of the Year#GigEm pic.twitter.com/MET5Kwnfp4— Texas A&M Basketball (@aggiembk) April 18, 2025
During his freshman 2023-24 season with Indiana, he finished 10th in free throw percentage (82.1%) in the Big Ten, 17th in free throws (92), 11th in usage rate (24.4%), and 17th in turnover percentage (9.6%).
The 20-year-old elected to enter the transfer portal in late March and committed to Texas A&M weeks later.
Mackenzie Mgbako Led G League Elite Camp In Scoring
However, the Nigerian-American hooper had also announced plans to explore the NBA draft process, being invited to the G League Elite Camp in Chicago earlier this month.
The 6-foot-8 Mgbako led the camp in scoring, recording 41 points and 11 rebounds in 41 minutes ahead of the NBA draft combine. He then went on post 31 points and 16 rebounds in 43 minutes at the combine.
6’8 Mackenzie Mgbako at CAA Pro Day 🔥 he has been a big time stock riser after his performances at the NBA combine. He shot the ball extremely well at pro day again @MackenzieMgbako via @JordanRichardSC pic.twitter.com/lAMKicD5Mx
— Swish Cultures (@swishcultures_) May 23, 2025
He finished the week shooting 13-of-26 from 3-point range.
“I look forward to building off of my experience at the combine and team workouts and translating that into a full season’s worth of basketball at Texas A&M,” Mgbako said.
“I look forward to playing in Coach McMillan’s system, doing whatever is asked of me to help our team win, play in the NCAA tournament and go deep into March.”
Bucky McMillan Replaced Buzz Williams As Head Coach
Mgbako will be among the many new additions in College Station next season, as the Aggies had to rework their roster after coach Buzz Williams decided to leave for Maryland.
Samford coach Bucky McMillan was hired to replace Williams. In April 2020, McMillan began his NCAA head coaching career with the Bulldogs, replacing Scott Padgett.
His former coach at Birmingham Southern, Duane Reboul, came out of retirement to join McMillan’s staff as a special assistant. McMillian went 99-52 (.656) overall with the Bulldogs.
Creighton Transfer Pop Isaacs Signs With Aggies
As for the other new players, Creighton transfer Pop Isaacs, more than a month after committing to Houston, has reportedly signed with the Aggies, sources told ESPN’s Jeff Borzello.
Isaacs, a former All-Big 12 selection in 2023-24 at Texas Tech, had picked Houston as the apparent replacement for Milos Uzan, who had entered the NBA draft but withdrew his name from draft consideration on Tuesday.
Isaacs played in just eight games for Creighton last season before a hip injury caused him to miss the rest of the campaign. He was averaging 16.3 points, 4.8, rebounds and 3.9 assists prior to injury.
Including Isaacs, 10 players have signed with Texas A&M from the transfer portal, including Mgbako, North Alabama guard Jacari Lane, Kansas wing Rylan Griffen, Texas Tech center Federiko Federiko, NC State guard Marcus Hill, Samford guard Joshua Holloway, and a few others.
The NCAA deadline for players to withdraw from the NBA draft and maintain college eligibility is Wednesday at 11:59 p.m. ET.
