After testing the waters of the NBA draft, combo guard Caleb Love has decided he’s not ready to end his college career just yet, announcing Wednesday that he is forgoing the 2024 NBA draft and will use his fifth year of eligibility to return to the Wildcats.
He maintained his college eligibility when he initially declared for the draft on April 16.
Love starred at North Carolina for his first three years in college and entered the transfer portal after his junior season. After initially committing to Michigan, he decommitted a month later and eventually found a home in Arizona, where he thrived.
During the 2023-24 campaign, Love started all 36 games and led the Wildcats with 18 points per game while adding 4.8 rebounds, 3.4 assists and 1.2 steals, leading the Wildcats to a 27-9 record and the Pac-12 regular-season title. He was named Pac-12 Player of the Year and was a finalist for the Wooden, Naismith, Robertson and Cousy national awards.
Arizona lost to Oregon in the semifinals of the Pac-12 tournament. After being named a No. 2 seed in the NCAA tournament, the Wildcats were bounced out of the Sweet 16 in an upset loss to No. 6 Clemson. Love had lackluster showings in both games, as he posted six points on 2-of-11 shooting against the Ducks and 13 points on 5-of-18 shooting in the loss to the Tigers.
A 6’4″ and 205-pound guard, Love can impact the game both as a scorer and as a facilitator. He would have been an attractive player in this year’s NBA draft class, but teams will have to wait another year to get a shot at bringing him into the fold.
With Love returning to Arizona, the Wildcats will be in great shape to make some noise immediately when they jump to the Big 12 at the start of next season.