BREAKING: Boo Buie declares for NBA Draft, maintains college eligibility

On Sunday night, Northwestern guard Boo Buie announced on his Twitter page that he will declare for the 2023 NBA Draft while maintaining his college eligibility.

Should he choose to return to Northwestern or enter the graduate transfer portal, Buie would have one season of eligibility remaining. He has until June 1 to withdraw from the NBA Draft, which is scheduled for June 22.

Unless he decides to come back, Buie will leave Evanston after four seasons, in which he became one of the most decorated players to ever don the purple and white. He played 115 games and started 94 of them, earning a First Team All-Big Ten honor in 2022-23 and leading NU to its second-ever NCAA Men’s Tournament berth in the same season. For his collegiate career, he averaged 13.4 points per game on 39.2% shooting from the field, as well as 2.6 rebounds and 3.9 assists per contest.

With Julian Roper II having entered the transfer portal on March 27, Northwestern now has a gaping hole in its starting backcourt. It could grow even larger depending on the decision of Chase Audige, who also has one season of collegiate eligibility left as a redshirt senior. Chris Collins could look internally to the team’s younger guards such as Brooks Barnhizer, Nick Martinelli or even Blake Smith to fill that need, or he could search for a point guard in the transfer portal. Northwestern has not yet brought in any transfer additions this offseason.

Buie joins Roper and Tydus Verhoeven as the third Wildcat on this year’s team to either exhaust their collegiate eligibility or confirm they will likely leave the ‘Cats. Roy Dixon, a senior guard, is likely to depart Northwestern as well. As for the other members of the senior class, Audige and Robbie Beran have yet to announce their plans.