Freshmen falling
April 22nd, 2008, 3:58 pm · Post a Comment · posted by Mark Heller
It’s almost time. College basketball players not graduating have until April 27 to declare for the NBA draft, but those who don’t sign with an agent have until 10 days before this summer’s draft to withdraw and return to school.
This won’t affect Arizona State directly since James Harden is returning and Jeff Pendergraph said Monday he’s returning to ASU for his senior season, a wise decision.
What could help most is the league’s attrition. Take a look at this season’s all-Pac 10 teams and their status (as of Tuesday evening):
First Team: Ryan Anderson, California (declared without agent), Harden (returning to school), Brook Lopez, Stanford (signed with an agent), Kevin Love, UCLA (declared and about to sign an agent), O.J. Mayo, Southern California (signed with an agent).
Second Team: Jerryd Bayless, Arizona (signed with an agent), Jon Brockman, Washington (returning to school), Darren Collison, UCLA (undecided), Maarty Leunen, Oregon (graduated), Kyle Weaver, Washington State (graduated).
Third Team: Chase Budinger, Arizona (declared without agent), Taj Gibson, USC (returning to school), Derrick Low, Washington State (graduated), Pendergraph (returning to school), Russell Westbrook (declared without agent).
The Pac-10 may not be quite as remarkable next season, but that list has ASU looking good.
In the bigger picture, for every Harden and Pendergraph, however, are a lot more guys on the other side: Mayo, Love, Derrick Rose, Michael Beasley, Eric Gordon, etc. They’re (more) ready for the NBA and have every right to take advantage of the payday coming.
Here’s a recent column by Gene Wojciechowski at ESPN.com, and while it’s nothing that hasn’t been spouted off about for years and years, it’s that time of year to get back on the pulpit.
