NC State Signee Paul Mbiya has Officially Removed His Name from the NBA Draft

NC State 2025 Prep Signee Center Paul Mbiya (6’11″/260) has officially removed his name from the 2025 NBA Draft.

NC State signee Paul Mbiya officially removed himself from the 2025 NBA Draft to maintain his collegiate eligibility. The Congolese center is headed to Raleigh.

“The sky is the limit for what he can become,” Will Wade previously said of Mbiya.

More here: https://t.co/Q73dR2nsl2 pic.twitter.com/nr89kQEXXN

— Noah Fleischman (@fleischman_noah) May 30, 2025

Mbiya signed with NC State on May 2nd.

He has a 7’7″ wingspan!

Previously, he took a visit to Oregon.

Mbiya is currently 20 years old (born April 11, 2005) but has only been playing basketball for three years.

At 17, Mbiya got his start with the NBA Academy in Senegal and played five games with Ferroviario de Beira out of Mozambique.

At 18, he headed to France to play with Espoirs ASVEL, the U21 team of the ASVEL program owned by NBA Hall of Famer Tony Parker. In 2022–23, he averaged 10.9 points, 8.9 rebounds, 1.3 blocks, and 1.1 steals for Espoirs ASVEL.

This season, Mbiya continued to play primarily in France’s ProA U21 league with ASVEL, averaging 15.8 points, 11.9 rebounds, 3.0 blocks, and 1.0 steals, shooting 70.1% from the field in 24 games. As a 19-year-old, he was called up to play with ASVEL’s top-tier professional team for a total of 11 games in both the EuroLeague and France’s Betclic Élite league.

Since Mbiya has played a few games at the professional level, we will have to wait and see how the NCAA handles his eligibility, but until we hear otherwise, we will go off the notion that Mbiya has 4-years of eligibility in college.

Will Wade’s Perspective

Paul has a presence about him when you watch him that really jumps out at you. He’s nearly seven feet tall, but his wingspan and length makes him appear even taller. He has the potential to be one of the best rim protectors and rebounders in college basketball, but also has a great offensive skill set. The sky is the limit for what he can become. (GP)