Gone.

Yoni. Traveling for a couple days. For now, check the Blogroll for interesting commentary.

In the Wake of NBA Defections

The Deamon Deacons have an (outside) shot at winning next year's NCAA Championship.

Much rests on the amount of offseason progress Vytas Danelius makes. As a sophomore, Danelius averaged almost twice as many points and rebounds as he did during his injury-plagued junior year.

Andy Katz writes up quite a piece on the Deacons improving their defense...

An Oldie but a Goodie

Amid all the talk of early exits to the NBA Draft, I got to thinking of the Sports Guy's hilarious commentary on past NBA Drafts.

Read it and weep (from laughter).

The Shaun Livingston & J.R. Smith Watch

From today's News & Observer of Raleigh, North Carolina:

Livingston has been thinking for several weeks about jumping from Peoria (Ill.) Central High straight to the NBA. He met with Blue Devils coach Mike Krzyzewski on Wednesday, but the content of the discussion is unknown.

Losing Livingston -- and maybe Luol Deng as well -- would be a significant blow to next year's Blue Devils.

From yesterday's edition of the same paper:

For right now, North Carolina recruit J.R. Smith plans to play for the Tar Heels next season, his father said Wednesday.

I've said it before and I'll say it again. UNC is a 6'6" swingman away from the Final Four.

Time Travel

CNN/SI lists only college underclassmen on the site's early exit list.

Those were the days.

ESPN, however, lives in the moment. Their list is complete.

25 lottery "locks"

Those nefarious agents are at it again, "guaranteeing" high school phenoms and collegiate stars spots in the NBA's lottery.

My estimate is that about 25 assurances have been made -- for 14 lottery spots.

Right.

I wish I had the time to confirm this hunch. I'd only have to sort through 5-10 articles a piece on each of the early entrants...

Should He Stay or Should He Go?

Ryan over at Heels, Sox & Steelers weighs in on J.R. Smith's upcoming decision. Smith, a UNC recruit, is considering an early entry to the NBA Draft. He has yet to be assured a spot in the lottery.

A trip to the Final Four for Roy Williams' crew could hang in the balance.

Ryan provides in-depth analysis -- with a statistical review of past performance by early entrants. Dave, another Wash U alum (!), weighs in as well, adding context to cumulative statistics.

Analysis of this quality suggests the sports blogosphere has a bright future...

5/8...and done.

Looks like the NCAA is about the eliminate the 5/8 rule.

About time. The current rule allows schools to offer no more than five scholarships in one year or eight in two years.

When multiple players leave early for the NBA (or transfer elsewhere), schools are then unable to pursue new recruits. A number of programs - Arizona among them - have been recently hurt by this provision.

Fly Away

As was expected, Air Force's Joe Scott was hired as the new basketball coach at Princeton today. The 39-year-old Scott was an assistant at Princeton from 1992-2000. He also played for Pete Carril at Princeton from 1983-87.

Will Nick Welch follow suit? Losing the Mountain West Conference co-player of the year would seriously undermine the Falcons' prospects next year...

Dukie V: Truth to Power

You have to believe Vitale's latest column on ESPN was ghostwritten. He's making too much sense...

I'm amazed at Arizona's Andre Iguodala leaving school early. Oh what a mistake he is making. He can use the coaching of Hall of Famer Lute Olson, a guy who does a wonderful job teaching kids to play within the team concept. Something tells me Iguodala needs Arizona more than the school needs him. Let's hope he doesn't sign with an agent and considers withdrawing from the draft.

As he wisely recalls the ghost of Mario Austin:

Word has surfaced for a while now that Sebastian Telfair will likely go to the NBA and never step foot on the Louisville campus. After watching some video and seeing his action, in my opinion, it would be wise to spend a year under the tutelage of Rick Pitino. With Pitino's teaching ability, motivational ability and discipline, Telfair would improve immeasurably, especially in shot selection and on perimeter shooting....Check out the story ESPN ran recently on Mario Austin. He thought he'd be a first rounder, but ended up drafted in the second round. Austin got a chance to play in Russia but wasn't happy and now he feels lost. He's a kid who would've benefited from another year in college.

Gone.

Indiana recruit Josh Smith will skip college and enter the NBA draft.

Can you hear Mike Davis inching closer to the hot seat? A darn shame.

shoplifting 101

Arizona forward Isaiah Fox pleaded guilty to shoplifting, a misdemeanor, on Monday.

Fox admitted to stealing $2.58 (!) worth of snack food including a bagel, two packets of cream cheese and a candy bar from a campus convenience store on Oct. 29.

$2.58.

Ask yourself, Isiah, was it worth it? Not like you were nabbing a stereo...

Jay Bilas

Seems to have an easy job.

Now that the season's over, is Bilas on vacation? Online, he hasn't been seen or heard from in weeks...

Jack!

According to Mike DeCourcy, Jarrett Jack will find himself back at Georgia Tech next fall.

Georgia Tech reached the NCAA title game, but coach Paul Hewitt doesn't expect any of his current players to leave early for the NBA.

Jack was among my favorite players to watch this past year. Very, very glad he's coming back.

As for Paul Hewitt, the man's a genius.

Less is More?

Dick Vitale suggests Minnesota will be better off without Kris Humphries. He compares the Gophers to the Yellow Jackets -- no doubt more successfully after Chris Bosh's early entry to the NBA Draft.

But the Yellow Jackets had several returning stars. The Gophers don't. Georgia Tech has an incredible coach and, with all due respect to Dan Monson, Minnesota doesn't.

Vitale's rationale:

With Humphries this season, the other Golden Gophers often stood around and took pictures and watched him do his thing, making them easier to defend.

Maybe. But I'm inclined to argue this is wishful thinking. More often than not, you're worse off after the departure of your leading scorer and rebounder.

Calipari Maturing?

This article makes you think so...

Reason #46 to fire Steve Lappas: The memory of Jack Leaman. May he rest in peace.

The Two Second Thought

Traveling this weekend, hence the light posting.

But a quick thought. How did the NBA scouts know Chauncey Billups was going to be a solid pro? Coming out of Colorado, his stats were good, not great. A bunch of other players had better numbers.

But the scouts said he was a player and the Celtics took him in the lottery. He had a few mediocre years in Boston and then a few more in Detroit, all the time getting playing time and hanging around the league -- before quickly maturing into a solid NBA guard.

How'd they know Billups was a pro -- and the countless other quality guards coming out of college are/were not?