At the 2022 NBA Draft Combine earlier this month, Dalen Terry said he was looking for a team to fall in love with him as a first-round prospect. The Arizona guard kept his eligibility when he initially declared for the draft, so the door to a return was left very open.

Terry excelled under first-year head coach Tommy Lloyd. If it would have benefitted him more to return for another year, he would have gladly done it. But Terry felt like the kind of multi-tool prospect who would get into the draft process and, well, cause teams to fall in love with his ability.

In a post-Combine mock draft update from ESPN’s Jonathan Givony Tuesday morning, Terry rose from the mid-second round spot he was previously slotted at up into the first round. Givony is now projecting him to be the 27th pick to the Miami Heat.

Coincidentally, Tuesday afternoon, Terry officially announced that he’ll be staying in the draft.

“Wildcat Nation, I cannot thank you enough for everything you’ve done for me,” he wrote in a message shared to social media. “Just know that I will be a Wildcat forever.”

The 6-foot-7 do-everything guard was a crucial piece of the Wildcats’ 2021-22 Pac-12 championship team. Terry was a nightly triple-double threat, averaging eight points a game to go with 4.5 rebounds and 3.9 assists. An All-Pac-12 honorable mention selection, Terry was as dangerous handling the ball as he was working off-ball. He shot 36% on 3s and 50% from the field.

The energy, length, and athleticism in combination with his ability to handle the ball make Terry an ideal kind of NBA prospect. He’s a high-level thinker and a baller.

Here’s what Givony wrote on Terry:

“Terry has been one of the big winners of the pre-draft process so far, impressing teams with his character on and off the court while dropping glimpses of significant versatility and upside he can grow into at just 19-years old.”

With his decision to remain in the draft, the Wildcats are officially losing their top three players from last year’s team. Bennedict Mathurin and Christian Koloko are also going through the pre-draft process.