Pac-10’s hoops house cleaned
June 16th, 2008, 4:58 pm · Post a Comment · posted by Mark Heller
Monday was the deadline for college basketball underclassmen who hadn’t signed with an agent to withdraw from the NBA draft and return to school.
As expected, the Pac-10 was hit hard. Such is the price to be paid when you’re a top-three conference in the country with a handful of phenomenal freshmen.
Four of the five first-teamers from last season’s All Pac-10 crew are gone: O.J. Mayo (Southern California), Kevin Love (UCLA), Brook Lopez (Stanford) and Ryan Anderson (California).
The oddball college kid left? Arizona State’s James Harden.
Arizona’s Jerryd Bayless could have been on the first team as well, and he’s gone, and Luc Richard Mbah a Moute and Russell Westbrook left UCLA early.
Chase Budinger stayed a Wildcat. Projected as a late first-round pick with UA coach Lute Olson in his other ear every other day recruiting him to come back, Budinger probably made the right decision. He has a little toughness and consistency to prove in the college game, and the Wildcats have a quality starting lineup returning with Budinger, a healthy point guard Nic Wise, incoming high school All-American guard Brandon Jennings and junior-to-be Jordan Hill in the middle.
After those four … ouch.
Among those who pulled out of the NBA draft and will return to school is Brigham Young guard and and co-Mountain West Conference player of the year Lee Cummard.
Lee Cummard withdrew from the NBA draft last weekend, which means the BYU senior and Mesa native gets a homecoming (sort of) on Dec. 20, when the Cougars and Sun Devils square off at University of Phoenix Stadium.
The former Mesa High star led the Cougars in setting a school-record 27 regular-season wins and a MWC-record 14 league victories.
Lee, a senior-to-be, was the only player in the conference to rank in the top 10 in nine different statistical categories.
He led the Jackrabbits to a state championship in 2004.
As part of the Big 12/Pac-10 Hardwood Series, the Sun Devils’ rematch with Nebraska will be Dec. 7 at Wells Fargo Arena. The tip-off time won’t be determined until late fall.
The basketball team posted a 3.13 grade-point average for the spring semester. Derek Glasser (3.67), Rihards Kuksiks (3.25), Jeff Pendergraph (3.0) and Harden (3.0) led the way.