Utah’s Both Gach and Utah State’s Justin Bean, who both declared earlier for the 2022 NBA draft, reportedly will be officially pursuing professional careers going forward and leaving their college days behind.
Stadium’s Jeff Goodman included the pair among a list of more than 80 players he reported Wednesday who have declared and are intending to stay in the draft.
Per NCAA rules, players have until June 1 to officially withdraw their name from the draft to retain their college eligibility.
The 6-foot-6, 189-pound Gach transferred back to Utah last year after one season at Minnesota and averaged 8.7 points and 2.6 rebounds per game in his return to the program.
Goodman’s report about Gach not returning to school is consistent with reports from a month ago, when he originally declared for the draft.
He had one year of college eligibility remaining.
The 6-foot-7, 210-pound Bean also had one year of eligibility remaining.
Bean, Utah State’s do-it-all star, led the team in scoring (17.4 points per game), rebounding (9.9) and steals (1.5) last season.
He was also second in blocks (0.5) and fourth in assists (2.6). He led the Mountain West in double-doubles with 19 and was the league’s top rebounder.
Also on Wednesday, Sports Illustrated’s Jeremy Woo reported that former Utah Valley center Fardaws Aimaq will withdraw from the draft and play next season at Texas Tech, and Aimaq confirmed the news himself a short time later.
Aimaq, the reigning WAC Defensive Player of the Year, entered both the draft and the NCAA transfer portal this offseason and announced last month he would play next at Texas Tech if he didn’t go pro.
That leaves two other players with Utah ties who officially declared for the NBA draft, Goodman reported, who have not yet removed their names — BYU’s Gideon George and former Wasatch Academy standout Emmanuel Akot.
George both declared for the draft and briefly entered the transfer portal before removing his name from it with an indication he’ll return to BYU, while Akot most recently played at Boise State but also entered the transfer portal this offseason.