The 2026-27 college basketball season is set to include a handful of veterans with real mileage behind them, and a few of those names have already taken unusual routes back into the NCAA. After a wave of court rulings, players who had already completed four college seasons and even gone through NBA Summer League were handed another year of eligibility. That opens the door for some older, polished talents to make one more run at raising their stock.
Among that group, three players stand out as possible 2027 NBA Draft candidates: Atwell, Hall and Mitchell.
Atwell’s path has already included three seasons at UNC Greensboro and a 2025-26 stop at Texas Tech. He made the most of his lone year with the Red Raiders, putting up 13.5 points, 3.2 rebounds and 1.2 steals per game while shooting 46.3% from the field and 45.8% from 3-point range on 8.4 attempts per game.
That kind of shooting volume and efficiency gives him a clear calling card. He looked like a legitimate “3 & D” wing, showing enough perimeter defense to go with the kind of outside touch NBA teams always track closely in role players.
Atwell went undrafted in the 2026 class, but he did spend time with the Chicago Bulls’ Summer League team and turned in a few eye-catching outings.
Hall is in a different category when it comes to the winding college trail. If he is ruled eligible for 2026-27, he’ll suit up for his fifth school in five seasons.
His stops have included UNLV, George Mason, UCF and Auburn, and after going undrafted in the 2026 class he also played for the Miami Heat’s Summer League team. Court rulings sent him back to college, and he committed to St.
John’s. Hall’s 2025-26 season at Auburn was productive across the board: 19.3 points, 7.1 rebounds and 2.6 assists per game, with shooting splits of 45.1% from the field and 37.9% from 3-point range.
At 6-foot-7 and 225 pounds, he brings the kind of size, shot creation and rebounding that can keep him in the conversation for 2027.
Mitchell’s situation may be the most interesting of the three. He had been set to play for Kentucky after spending time with the Denver Nuggets’ Summer League team and receiving a fifth year of eligibility, but instead he chose to return to Missouri.
That keeps him in familiar territory after two seasons at Duke and the last two at Missouri. Over that two-year stretch with the Tigers, Mitchell averaged 18.3 points, 5.2 rebounds and 3.6 assists while shooting 54.7% from the field and 38.8% from 3-point range on 1.5 attempts per game.
With another productive season on a Missouri roster that should have some intrigue, he has a real chance to work his way into the 2027 NBA Draft conversation.
In Other News...
Texas Techs Brendan Sorsby Fight Just Took Another Legal Turn
The Big 12 has now voluntarily dismissed its federal lawsuit against Texas Tech and Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton with prejudice, putting another legal layer behind the conferences fight over quarterback Brendan Sorsbys eligibility. The case had centered on Sorsby after gambling violations triggered a messy run of hearings, filings and counterfilings that pulled the conference, the school and state officials into the same dispute.
Sorsby has already accepted the ruling that made him permanently ineligible, so the practical football piece of the story has moved on even as the legal aftermath keeps taking shape. For Texas Tech, the dismissal closes one federal front in a saga that stretched well beyond the field, while the quarterback now turns his attention toward the 2027 NFL Draft and what comes next in a career that never fully shook free of the eligibility fight. [Read more 🡒]
LSU Just Got Caught In College Footballs Eligibility Chaos
A Baton Rouge judge spent part of the week weighing a question that would have sounded unthinkable not long ago: whether two former NFL players could be added to LSUs college football roster this fall. The scene underscored how tangled eligibility, NIL and transfer rules have become in the college game, where schools are left navigating a patchwork of state laws and court rulings that can change the competitive landscape almost overnight.
Now the debate is pushing beyond the courtroom. Sen. Ted Cruz has been promoting the bipartisan Protect College Sports Act, a federal proposal aimed at bringing a single set of standards to eligibility, NIL and transfers, including five years of eligibility starting at age 19 or high school graduation and one no-penalty transfer. The Senate is scheduled to vote on the measure between Sept. 15 and 23, and for programs like Texas Tech, the stakes are obvious: whatever comes next could finally give coaches and administrators a more predictable rulebook, even if it still leaves plenty unresolved. [Read more 🡒]
Will Hammond Gave Texas Tech Fans A Reason To Dream Bigger
Will Hammonds first start as Texas Techs full-time quarterback gave the Red Raiders a better look at what the offense could become once he settled in. Coming off a knee injury, Hammond completed 26 of 33 passes for 298 yards with a touchdown and an interception, and Joey McGuire came away impressed by the way he handled the moment. The head coach pointed to Hammonds control and the way he managed his emotions, two things that mattered as much as the production in a first full outing.
Will also showed why there is still more to unlock. Texas Tech moved the ball well enough to keep fans thinking bigger, but the red zone remains the obvious next step after a day when drives did not always turn into touchdowns. For a quarterback making his first start in the role, it was a promising foundation, and one that leaves room for the kind of growth that can change how the rest of the season feels. [Read more 🡒]