Mock Drafts Getting Re-Done in Light of Decision Day
Decision day came on Monday the 15th for college basketball players. You had to either file the paperwork to get back into college or file the paperwork to continue into the NBA Draft. Yesterday we highlighted some of the big-timers and their decisions about whether to go pro or stay in school. Now all of the NBA Draft projections are getting revamped in light of the new information. If you had Luke Harangody going in the high first round to a team in need of a big man, you’re going to have to check that and go with another guy, maybe even Psycho-T. FoxSports.com has their own Draft projection board. Check it out.
Has anything changed drastically? Well, Blake Griffin is still the No. 1 pick, as he has been since the draft projecting began. Hasheem Thabeet is second, but after that, things get a little trickier. In Fox’s projections they have Arizona State star James Harden going third and Ricky Rubio, the Spanish import, going fourth. Not many drafts have Rubio out of the top three. At No. 10 Jeff Teague of Wake Forest is the first real decision day change. He was on the fence about going pro, but decided to go for it. Will he go as a lottery pick, though? Ans why is Jrue Holliday listed at No. 18? Well, these are guesses for a reason. Sometimes they turn out all wrong.
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Decisions, Decisions…
The college basketball world waited with baited breath yesterday on several of the most procrastinating college hoops stars, the ones who had originally declared for the draft, but stated that there was a possibility they might return to college basketball for one more season. If you didn’t hire an agent, you had until June 15th to decide to go back to school. Here are some of the most important decisions made yesterday:
- Austin Daye, Gonzaga - NBA
- Jeff Teague, Wake Forest - NBA
- Gani Lawal, Georgia Tech - College
- Patty Mills, Saint Mary’s - NBA
- Greivis Vasquez, Maryland - College
- Luke Harangody, Notre Dame - College
- Jodie Meeks, Kentucky - NBA
- Jrue Holiday, UCLA - NBA
- Taj Gibson, USC - NBA
- Devan Downey, South Carolina - College
- Osiris Eldridge, Illinois State - College
- Donald Sloan, Texas A&M - College
- Bryan Davis, Texas A&M - College
- Chinemelu Elonu, Texas A&M - College
- Ater Majok, Connecticut - College
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You’re In or You’re Out… Today Is the Day!
Today is Monday, June 15th, which means it’s the last day college basketball players who have declared for the NBA Draft get to decide whether they want to stay in the draft or go back to college. This day is important to college hoopsters who still have a year or more of eligibility left. Getting into the wrong Draft, going to early or staying too late in school could mean millions of dollars to these young men. May the Force be with all of you today. CBS Sports has a nice information center tracking all of the decisions. It’s complete with sparkling commentary from Gary Parrish, as well. Here are some of the headlines today:
- Jodie Meeks of Kentucky is going to go pro rather than return to Coach Calipari.
- Gani Lawal will return to Georgia Tech for at least one more season.
- Jrue Holiday has decided to hire an agent as he prepares to go into the NBA.
- Texas’ Damion James is not joining the Association just yet.
- Davan Downey of South Carolina will earn the big bucks some other time.
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Kansas Sports Hall of Fame to Induct Coach Eddie Sutton
Eddie Sutton has over 600 wins, coached three teams to the Final Four, and will now be inducted into the Kansas Sports Hall of Fame. Since he was born in Kansas, Bucklin to be exact, Sutton will be recognized for his accomplishments in the sport of college basketball in his home state, regardless of the fact that most of his career was spent in other states.
Eddie Sutton coached at Creighton, Arkansas, Kentucky, Oklahoma State and the University of San Francisco in an impressive 36-year career on the sidelines of some of the most prolific college basketball programs in the nation. Most of his success came from his coaching stints with Arkansas (where he went 260-75 with nine consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances, including a Final Four in 1978), Kentucky (88-39) and Oklahoma State (362-149, including two Final Fours and three Sweet Sixteens). Congratulations go out from the Final Four Blog to Coach Sutton. What a career!
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The Search for a Coach at USC Begins Now
Yesterday we brought you the story of Tim Floyd, whose sudden resignation from his job as the head basketball coach at USC was brought about by allegations that he illegally gave representatives of O.J. Mayo cash and other gifts. Well, the firestorm of media attention is not going to settle anytime soon, not with the NBA draft so far away, and the college hoops world with nothing else to talk about. But what happens from here on out for USC fans. Well, first things first- they need a coach. This time of year is actually somewhat busy for a college basketball coach, You’ve got to get your recruits lined up, do some housekeeping, work out the schedule for next year. There’s a lot of prep work that goes on, and right now the assistants at USC are probably scrambling.
So who do you think should take the USC job? This Sports Illustrated Truth and Rumors article suggests that some of the Los Angeles Lakers assistants would fit in perfectly. Some of the comments below suggest that former NBA coach Reggie Theus would be a good match, and some even think that a coach form another top college basketball program would be willing to jump ship for USC.
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Tim Floyd Resigns
Huge news is coming out of Southern California, by way of Mississippi. Tim Floyd, the head basketball coach at the University of Southern California, has suddenly and shockingly resigned from his position. While Floyd and the Trojans of USC had been under investigation for some time following allegations that they gave illegal gifts and monetary compensation to agents of O.J. Mayo, the resignation was quite a shock to the college basketball world. Floyd had been silent about the matter up until this point, and most basketball experts figured that the allegations would be at the very least contested by the coach. Instead, he submitted a one paragraph letter to the Athletic Director at USC.
What does this all mean? Is this a kind of indictment of Floyd’s guilt? Or did the pressure of the investigation, despite his innocence, lead Floyd to lose interest in basketball? Will USC’s basketball program be hindered by this in any way? Let’s hope that justice is served and that no innocent person or group will undergo unfair punishment.
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Notre Dame’s Harangody to the Bulls?
Luke Harangody of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish is slated to work out with the NBA’s Chicago Bulls, reports the Chicago Tribune. The Bulls do have somewhat of a need for an interior player, one who can rebound, clog up the lane and provide post offense. That’s exactly what Harangody was for the Irish last season, as he was a top team scorer and rebounder in the NCAA. He was an All-American, a Big East Player of the Year and an all-around workhorse for the Irish. Harangody hasn’t decided whether or not he will return to Notre Dame or go pro. He has less than a week to decide.
How good would Luke Harangody be in the NBA? Well, he’s pretty comparable to other bigs who people think will do fine, such as Blake Griffin, DeJuan Blair and, to a lesser extent, Tyler Hansborough. Here’s a nice little free profile on Luke, via draftexpress.com. Luke’s a classic case of a guy who might, technically be ready to be drafted late first round, but wants to be a higher lottery and could benefit from another year of devouring monster stats in the Big East.
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Top High School Hoopsters of All-Time
All the college basketball talk these days is about recruiting, drafting and college decisions. In light of this fact, we’re going to feed you blog readers a nice little story about the 50 best high school basketball players of all-time. Well, that introduction might be a little deceiving. You see, Kevin Askeland of maxpreps.com has gone about this thing a little bit differently. He has listed the 50 US States and determined a best player from each. Some more popular states, like California, New York, Texas and Illinois, are harder to determine. Actually there are only 49 players listed. Vermont has no former high school players who went on to play in the NBA.
The determining factors for this list were interesting. The player had to make some sort of contribution at the high school level and had to play professionally. While having a terrific high school career is important, sometimes the later success outweighs high school success. Suppose you led your high school team to 4 straight state titles, but got injured in college and never played pro. You wouldn’t be in the running.
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Breaking Down the Positions in the NBA Draft
While the top three picks in the NBA Draft seem to be locked in, with Blake Griffin going No. 1 and either Ricky Rubio or Hasheem Thabeet going No. 2 and No. 3, the struggle to determine who should be drafted and when has not been so simple. The NBA Draft combine is taking place currently, and some players have already seen their stock rise. Chad Ford of ESPN has a few notes on the position battles taking place at the camps.
Most NBA teams have a specific position need or two, so sometimes, regardless of whether there is a better overall player, they will pick someone at the position they need. Take, for example, the Sacramento Kings. They have young, developing players at Center, forward and shooting guard. They need a point badly. So Kings executives are going to be looking through the group of point guard prospects to find their pick. That’s how the theory goes at least.
Chad Ford then puts his notes into action here in his Mock Draft 3.0. Notice how Jrue Holliday has moved into the No. 4 spot, up from a couple spots down just a few weeks ago. The Ricky or Hasheem debate is interesting. It might be worth a look at a sports betting site to see which player is most likely to be drafted No. 2.
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Congressional Opinion on NBA Age Limit; USA’s Coach K
At least one member of the United States Congress has voiced his disapproval of the NBA’s strict age requirement. Currently the NBA mandates that any player entering the league be at least 19 years old and be one year removed from high school. This forces many young superstars to go for one-and-done years in the college game or, more recently, to go to Europe to play before entering the NBA. Representative Steve Cohen, a democrat from Tennessee, said the age limit is unfair to young people who are trying to pursue their careers. Other sports leagues don’t have such limits.
In other news… the Arizona Republic is reporting that Team USA Basketball wants Coach K to return to the sidelines as the coach when the national team returns to action this year. The USA hoops team won gold in Beijing at the Olympics, but there are more international games slated this year, and the search for a team is beginning. Some new faces might make the team this time out, including Brandon Roy, Derrick Rose and Kevin Durant.
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