University of Louisville freshman guard Mikel Brown Jr., is entering the 2026 NBA draft, he told ESPN's Andscape.
Brown averaged 18.2 points, 4.7 assists and 3.3 rebounds in 21 games for the Cardinals during the 2025-26 season. The 6-foot-5, 190-pounder missed 14 games due to a lower back injury, including the NCAA tournament and Atlantic Coast Conference tournament. ESPN's Jeremy Woo predicted Brown to be a seventh overall pick in the draft in his latest projection on March 11.
Louisville G Mikel Brown Jr. will enter this year's NBA draft after averaging 18.2 points, 4.7 assists and 3.3 rebounds in 21 games as a freshman for the Cardinals. Bob Donnan-Imagn Images "Obviously, it's just been a dream of mine to be able to be in this position," Brown told Andscape. "The little kid in me would freaking scream just to know that I have an opportunity to play at the highest level, which has been a dream of mine since I started picking up a basketball. So yeah, I'll be taking that next step."
Brown -- an All-ACC third-team selection -- scored a season-high 45 points against North Carolina State on Feb. 9 and was named Associated Press Player of the Week after the performance. But he believes his breakthrough performance was scoring 29 points in a 96-88 win against in-state rival Kentucky on Nov. 11, 2025, the third game of the season.
He has been hampered by a strained back since November and last played on March 28. After being sidelined for over a month, he said he probably returned to action too early when he played against Virginia Tech on Jan. 24. He played in 11 more games, including the 45-point outburst against North Carolina State, before being sidelined indefinitely due to the back issue.