John Mobley Jr. Declares For NBA Draft, Will Maintain College Eligibility

Sophomore guard John Mobley Jr. announced on Tuesday that he is declaring for the NBA draft, but he will still maintain his college eligibility.

This will give Mobley the ability to test the NBA waters and see what kind of interest pro teams have in him, and if he the feedback isn’t what he wants, then he can return to play college basketball.

Mobley made an important clarification in his statement, if he does ultimately return to college.

“I will not be entering the transfer portal,” his statement read. “If I return to college basketball next season, there will only be one place for me and that’s here in Columbus with Buckeye Nation.”

Mobley has been a big piece of head coach Jake Diebler’s offense since 11 games into his freshman season in 2024-25 when he joined the starting lineup and went on to average 13.0 points per game and 2.2 assists.

His scoring ability took a step up in his sophomore season with the Buckeyes, with 15.7 points per game to go with 2.8 assists and 2.4 rebounds.

Mobley also became a more efficient scorer, increasing his field goal percentage from 38.9 to 43.2 this year. He increased both his three-point percentage (38.5 to 41.1) and his two-point field goal percentage (39.6 to 47.2).

His elite shooting ability likely makes him an attractive NBA prospect, but its unclear how much interest he will receive at this point of his development.

If Mobley does return to Ohio State, he would join Bynum, who announced his return on March 30, along with Anthony Thompson, the Buckeyes’ five-star prospect who will likely start at small forward.