Dink Pate Returning to NBA G League After Withdrawing from Providence amid Eligibility Pursuit

Following an attempt to gain collegiate eligibility and play at Providence College, guard Dink Pate is returning to the NBA G League.

According to Kevin McNamara of KevinMcSports.com, Providence head men's basketball coach Bryan Hodgson confirmed Pate's decision on Friday.

Pate spent the past three seasons in the G League, and he is reportedly expected to land an Exhibit 10 contract with a G League team for the 2026-27 season. The Westchester Knicks are the likeliest candidate since he played for them last season.

Now 20, Pate decided to forgo his college basketball eligibility in 2023 when he signed on to play for G League Ignite, which is a now-defunct team that allowed players to skip college and play professionally.

Pate then played for the G League's Mexico City Capitanes during the 2024-25 campaign, and after not getting picked in the 2025 NBA draft, he signed a G League deal with Westchester for the 2025-26 season.

After averaging 8.0 points per game in his first G League season and 10.1 in his second, Pate truly broke out last season in Westchester.

Over 36 G League regular-season games with the Knicks, Pate put up 16.0 points, 6.6 rebounds, 3.7 assists and 2.9 three-pointers made per contest, while shooting 41.8 percent from the field and 36.9 percent from beyond the arc.

Despite his G League success, Pate committed to play college basketball at Providence back in April.

Multiple players have attempted to return to the college ranks over the past year despite playing in the G League or even being drafted by NBA teams, as was the case with James Nnaji.

Those situations have been handled by the NCAA on a case-by-case basis, but Pate's eligibility remained very much in limbo with the college basketball season approaching.

Ultimately, Pate chose to return to the G League, as waiting any longer could have potentially resulted in him getting frozen out of both college basketball and the G League this season.