Early entries aplenty in NBA draft
At the bottom of this post you will see the names of more than 50 college underclassmen who entered their name into the NBA draft before Sunday's early-entry deadline. Some of the players are in the draft for good, some are simply looking for feedback from NBA personnel and some are truly undecided about whether they will stay in the draft.
One player who will certainly stay in the draft in Nevada sophomore JaVale McGee, who hired an agent and as a result lost the remaining two years of his college eligibility. All of these early entries probably won't affect his draft status too drastically. Although 19 other power forward/centers entered their names into the draft, McGee is head-and-shoulders above the majority of those players.
Only Kansas State's Michael Beasley, Stanford's Robin Lopez and LSU's Anothony Randolph appear to be locks to be drafted before McGee (UCLA's Kevin Love and Texas A&M's DeAndre Jordan are also widely expected to be selected before McGee). NBAdraft.net, DraftExpress.com, MyNBADraft.com and ESPN.com all have McGee as a top-20 prospect. It is nearly impossible that he would fall out of the guaranteed-money first round, and with a few good workouts, he could easily be a lottery selection.
Nevada's other draft prospect, shooting guard Marcelus Kemp, is the Wolf Pack player most directly affected by the rash of early entries. Kemp is a borderline second-round draft pick and his odds of being selected are endangered by the 50-plus early entries. Granted, probably half of these 50-plus entries will return to school after testing the waters, but that still leaves a good chunk of underclassmen to deal with. Throw in the 5-10 international players who are drafted annually and that doesn't leave many spots for college seniors to fill.
In fact, 20 of the 60 picks in last season's draft were seniors (only six of whom were chosen in the first round). You could expect that number to be pretty similar this season. So is Kemp one of the 20-best NBA prospects among college seniors? We will find out the answer to that question in June.
Here are the early entries for the NBA draft.
Point Guards
D.J. Augustin, Texas, Sophomore
Jerryd Bayless, Arizona, Freshman
Ty Lawson*, North Carolina, Sophomore
Jeremy Pargo*, Gonzaga, Junior
Mario Chalmers*, Kansas, Junior
Derrick Rose, Memphis, Forward
Ronald Steele*, Alabama, Junior
Russell Westbrook*, UCLA, Freshman
Shooting Guards
A.J. Abrams*, Texas, Junior
Antonio Anderson*, Memphis, Junior
Chase Budinger*, Arizona, Sophomore
Josh Carter*, Texas A&M, Junior
Lee Cummard*, BYU, Junior
Wayne Ellington*, North Carolina, Sophomore
Eric Gordon, Indiana, Freshman
Lester Hudson*, Tennessee-Martin, Junior
Jamont Jordan*, Mississippi State, Junior
O.J. Mayo, USC, Freshman
Jemel McNeal*, Marquette, Junior
Brandon Rush, Kansas, Junior
Josh Shipp*, UCLA, Junior
Robert Vaden*, Alabama-Birmingham, Junior
Bill Walker*, Kansas State, Freshman
Small Forward
Keith Brumbaugh*, SF, Hillsbourgh CC
Robert Dozier*, Memphis, Junior
Chris Douglas-Roberts, Memphis, Junior
Danny Green*, North Carolina, Junior
Donte Greene*, Syracuse, Freshman
Davon Jefferson, USC, Freshman
Luc Richard Mbah a Moute*, UCLA, Junior
Power Forward
Joe Alexander*, West Virginia, Junior
Ryan Anderson*, Cal, Sophomore
Darrell Arthur*, Kansas, Sophomore
Michael Beasley, Kansas State, Freshman
Derrick Caracter, Louisville, Junior
DeMarre Carroll*, Missouri, Junior
Richard Hendrix*, Alabama, Junior
J.J. Hickson*, N.C. State, Freshman
Shawn James*, Duquesne, Junior
Kevin Love*, UCLA, Freshman
Leo Lyons*, Missouri, Junior
JaVale McGee, Nevada, Sophomore
Anthony Randolph, LSU, Forward
Marreese Speights*, Florida, Sophomore
Center
C.J. Giles, Oregon State, Junior
DeAndre Jordan*, Texas A&M, Freshman
Kosta Koufos*, Ohio State, Freshman
Brook Lopez, Stanford, Sophomore
Robin Lopez, Stanford, Sophomore
Trent Plaisted*, BYU, Junior
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