Draft or Returning

[Lake Louise]

Thought I should make a topic about this, since the deadline is soon(tomorrow) for underclassmen to withdrawl or stay in the draft.

Just post whatever you find about players staying in or going back to school.

Devan Downey & Dominique Archie

The SEC, understandably ripped last March for not having a top seed and only three total teams in the NCAA tournament, continues to get good news with another high-profile conference player withdrawing from the NBA draft.

Saturday, the latest to say he's coming back is South Carolina's leading scorer, junior guard Devan Downey. South Carolina coach Darrin Horn told ESPN.com Saturday afternoon that Downey had sent in the paperwork to the NBA announcing he was withdrawing, less than 48 hours before Monday's 5 p.m. EST deadline.

"I think it's great," Horn said of the SEC players returning to school. "We want to be in a league that has those type of players and getting our two guys back will make a big difference."

South Carolina fell a game or two short of earning an at-large berth to the NCAAs. The Gamecocks were 10-6 in the SEC and ended up 21-10 overall after losing to Davidson in the postseason NIT's first round.

South Carolina returns center Mike Holmes (10.8 ppg, 7.7 rpg) and backup Sam Muldrow (5.6 ppg, 5.3 rpg) to help offer even more balance for the Gamecocks next season. Horn said he expects incoming freshman forward Lakeem Jackson to have an impact, too.

"We have a chance, no question," Horn said of competing with Kentucky and Tennessee, the likely frontrunners ahead of South Carolina, Florida and Vanderbilt in the SEC East. "But we've got a lot of work to do."

Downey worked out well for a number of teams and had a shot to be a second-round pick had he stayed in the draft. With the dearth of point guards in this draft, Downey has a shot to climb higher in the 2010 draft. Downey started his career at Cincinnati before transferring to South Carolina.

 

[The Young One]

Damion james and tyler smith are going back to school.

 

[Lake Louise]

Damion James

Texas junior wing Damion James couldn't get a guarantee that he'd be a first-round pick in this month's NBA draft. So he did what most NBA personnel have advised: He decided to go back to school to improve his chances for the 2010 draft.

James informed Texas coach Rick Barnes late Friday night that he would be returning for his senior season, according to a Texas spokesperson.

James canceled a workout that was scheduled for Saturday in New Jersey. The deadline to withdraw from the June 25 draft is 5 p.m. ET Monday.

"This process has been a great learning experience. I've been able to get a much better understanding of how the NBA works and what they are looking for from me. That will definitely help when I go through this process again next year," James said in a statement Saturday.

"I can't say 'thank you' enough to my family, my coaches, my teammates and those closest to me for their support and honesty through this process. I know they truly want what is best for me, and that means so much."

James was invited to the NBA draft combine in Chicago, but wasn't convincing enough there, or in individual team workouts, to make him a first-round pick.

James will be the top returning scorer for the Longhorns. He averaged 15.4 points a game last season behind outgoing senior guard A.J. Abrams (16.6 ppg). James' return should help Texas be a preseason top-10 pick and a favorite to nip at likely No. 1 Kansas in the race for the Big 12 title.

Texas returns guards Justin Mason, Varez Ward and Dogus Balbay to go along with James, and added the top position players in the ESPNU 100 in shooting guard Avery Bradley out of Findlay College Prep (Henderson, Nev.) and small forward Jordan Hamilton out of Dominguez (Calif.) High.

Small forward Shawn Williams (Duncanville High, Texas) and Florida transfer guard Jai Lucas are expected to make an impact as well. Lucas should compete for the starting point guard position.

Texas also returns its starting front line of Dexter Pittman and Gary Johnson, two players who Barnes repeatedly has said could compete for All-Big 12 honors. Barnes fully expects them to have a banner season.

Barnes, never one to hide from hyping his team if deserved, has said Texas could be one of the better teams in the country. Getting James back to lead this crew certainly enhances his position.

Jrue Holiday

LOS ANGELES -- UCLA guard Jrue Holiday has decided to remain in the NBA draft and will hire an agent, which makes him ineligible to return to the Bruins.

Coach Ben Howland on Saturday confirmed Holiday's decision.

"I'm sure Jrue will be a great NBA player and have a long career," Howland said. "We are very happy for him and wish him well. He will always be a part of the Bruin family."

As a freshman, Holiday started all 35 games last season while helping the Bruins to a 26-9 record and a second-place finish in the Pac-10. He was selected to the conference's all-freshman team.

Holiday averaged 8.5 points, 3.8 rebounds and 3.7 assists.

 

[JoshHoward5]

Hell yeah Damion, come back and win a national championship with Texas.

 

[The Young One]

KU and UK are easily better than texas.

 

[kdogg]

Not to mention the fact that MSU has beaten Texas the last 3 or 4 years in a row (It's another 2 matchups coming as well).

 

[The Young One]

I retract that part about UK being better. But I believe KU and MSU are better definetly.

 

[JoshHoward5]

Did you guys not see Gary Pittman at the end of the year? He became scary good.

But what's really scary is that our whole offense doesn't run through a streaky shooter. I love Abrams, but the team rised and fell with his shooting. Now we should have a more balanced attack. James, Pittman, and Balbay fusing with a top recuriting class, and Jai Lucas is scary. Kansas and MSU might be better, but it's not by much. Just enough to let my biasism take the rest.

 

[Lake Louise]

Ater Majok

STORRS, Conn. -- The University of Connecticut says freshman basketball player Ater Majok has removed his name from the NBA draft.

Majok, a 6-foot-10 forward who has yet to play a game for the Huskies, said in April that he planned to use the pre-draft period to assess where he stood with the NBA, but planned to return to school.

UConn coach Jim Calhoun has said there is also a possibility that Majok could leave school and play in Europe.

"He's not going to go into the draft, but I don't know what, beyond that, he'll do," Calhoun said Saturday, according to the Hartford Courant. "I talked to him [Friday]. He's going to do whatever he feels he needs to do. It's not much more complex than that.

"I don't think he'll go home. I think it's either [UConn] or Europe," Calhoun said, according to the Courant. "You have to want to join our program. And I think Ater does, but he has a lot of responsibilities."

Majok, a former refugee from Sudan, is not eligible to play at Connecticut until the end of the 2009 fall semester. His name has also been linked peripherally to an NCAA investigation into possible recruiting violations at UConn.

Reports have linked Josh Nochimson, a former UConn student manager, to the appearance of Majok at a basketball tournament last year in Kentucky. Phone calls between Nochimson and UConn's coaches are at the center of an NCAA investigation into possible recruiting violations.

Most of those allegations involve another UConn recruit, Nate Miles. Yahoo! Sports reported in March that Nochimson helped guide Miles to Connecticut, giving him lodging, transportation, meals and representation. Miles, of Toledo, Ohio, was expelled from Connecticut last fall before ever playing for the Huskies.

Calhoun has acknowledged that he or his staff may have made mistakes in recruiting Miles.

Jodie Meeks & Othere SEC players

Kentucky junior Jodie Meeks has informed new Wildcats coach John Calipari that he is staying in the NBA draft and forgoing his senior season.

In a surprising move, Meeks, who made a name for himself when he poured in a school-record 54 points in a win at Tennessee last season, informed Kentucky of the decision on Monday, hours before the 5 p.m. ET deadline for players to withdraw from the draft.

Calipari said he purposely backed off Meeks and didn't pressure him into making a decision for the June 25 draft.

In a statement issued by the school, Meeks said, "I want to thank the fans and the city of Lexington. They have been great and I will always be a Kentucky Wildcat. I feel comfortable with my decision and I'm confident in my ability. My family and I talked over the weekend and decided this was the best decision."

Meeks, a 6-foot-4 guard, led the SEC in scoring at 23.7 points a game and shot an SEC-best 90.2 percent from the free-throw line.

Meeks is projected as a likely second-round pick. There is always a chance he could climb his way into the first round, but the latter part of the first round could be filled with potential foreign selections as teams try to avoid taking on more salaries for next season.

Meeks' decision makes him only the second SEC player to stay in the draft after declaring as an early entry. The other one was Florida's leading scorer Nick Calathes, who signed with a Greek professional team. Meeks' teammate Patrick Patterson decided to come back, as did Tasmin Mitchell (LSU), Devan Downey and Dominique Archie (South Carolina), Tyler Smith (Tennessee), Jarvis Varnado (Mississippi State) and Michael Washington (Arkansas).

"We'll be fine,'' Calipari said.

Calipari said Meeks' departure means he may be more likely to play his pair of highly touted incoming point guards, John Wall and Eric Bledsoe, together in the backcourt.

Bledsoe signed first but Wall is the more talented player, setting up a potentially dicey situation with playing time. Meeks' departure could help Kentucky avoid that mess.

Calipari said his remaining guard rotation of Wall, Bledsoe, newcomer Darnell Dodson and returnees Darius Miller and DeAndre Liggins provides plenty of production possibilities. The Wildcats should be fine inside with Patterson, newcomers DeMarcus Cousins and Daniel Orton and returnee Perry Stevenson.

Meeks' departure could knock Kentucky out of a possible preseason No. 1 perch in the polls. But the Wildcats will have enough talent to make a run at a Final Four appearance in Indianapolis.

With Meeks' departure, Kentucky was nearing finalizing its full scholarship list for 2009-2010. Spokesman DeWayne Peevy said the school was preparing an announcement on that, but it was not ready on Monday. Among the players not returning is Kevin Galloway, who told the Lexington Herald-Leader that Calipari had encouraged him to go.

Galloway could be looking for a fourth college team after previously playing for Southern California, Southern Idaho and Kentucky. He averaged 10 minutes and 1.9 points last year for the Wildcats.

 

[Lake Louise]

Luke Harangody

Luke Harangody chose the sure thing of being a Notre Dame great over the uncertainty of where he'd go in the NBA draft when he decided to return for his senior season with the Irish.

As of midday Monday, Notre Dame coach Mike Brey still didn't know which way Harangody was leaning. But an hour before the 5 p.m. ET deadline, Harangody told Brey he was returning to school. Brey said in a text simply: "Gody to return!"

Brey said he would have supported Harangody, who has a chance to become Notre Dame's all-time leading scorer, no matter what his decision, but is thrilled he will return.

"First of all, we are thrilled that Luke has decided to return to Notre Dame and be a part of our program for his senior year," Brey said in a statement later Monday. "I believe that the past several weeks have been a great learning experience for Luke and his family. He has handled this as a man and I am very proud that he went through this whole process.

"Luke has had my full support from day one and whatever final decision he made, I was doing to support him," Brey said. "With that being said, I am excited that he is going to be back. We have a great nucleus next year and I know what of Luke's goals is to get back to the NCAA tournament. He also has the chance to carve a unique place in the long and storied history of the Notre Dame basketball program."

Harangody won the Big East player of the year in 2008 when the Irish made the NCAA tournament. But a seven-game losing streak in the middle of last season led to the Irish missing out on the NCAAs and Harangody finishing out of the chase for player of the year honors behind co-winners DeJuan Blair of Pitt and Hasheem Thabeet of Connecticut.

The 6-foot-8 forward averaged 23.3 points and 11.8 rebounds last season to lead the Big East in scoring and rebounding in consecutive seasons.

With 1,823 career points, Harangody needs 738 to break Austin Carr's school record. He has 949 rebounds and needs 370 to become Notre Dame's all-time leading rebounder, too. Harangody has 1,036 Big East points. With 370 points, he could eclipse the record of 1,405 set by Syracuse's Lawrence Moten. He also needs 162 more rebounds to become the all-time leading rebounder in the league.

Boston College's Troy Bell is the last Big East player to win the conference player of the year award twice. He did it in 2003 by himself after sharing it two seasons earlier with Notre Dame's Troy Murphy. Murphy, Connecticut's Richard Hamilton, Georgetown's Patrick Ewing and St. John's Chris Mullin have all won two Big East Player of the Year awards.

Harangody, who slimmed down during the draft workouts, will lead a formidable Notre Dame team with transfers Scott Martin (Purdue) and Ben Hansbrough (Mississippi State), making the Irish a player for a top four finish in the Big East.

Harangody planned to meet with the media on Tuesday to discuss his decision.

Patty Mills, Jeff Teague, Taj Gibson, Austin Daye & Chinemelu Elonu Stay in Draft.

Greivis Vasquez Returning

 

[dez]

I think its best for Harangody to return, IMO he's an upgraded version of Tyler Hansbrough and could use another year to prove his worth.

I would have liked to see Meeks return though, just to see how good Kentucky would actually be with Cousins, Wall, Patterson and their other recruit at guard (cant remember his name) but losing Meeks will definently hurt them.

 

[YoYoYoMan]

I think its best for Harangody to return aswell..