I had been all set to write a post on how the 2008-2009 season was shaping up to be the most wide-open since '05-'06, and how I was eagerly looking forward to it, but then yesterday happened.
With the deadline to pull out of the NBA Draft staring them in the face, the North Carolina triumvirate of Ty Lawson, Danny Green and Wayne Ellington all announced they would be returning to school, making the Tar Heels the likely runaway preseason favorite for the upcoming season. Carolina, the top overall seed in last year's NCAA Tournament and an eventual national semifinalist, will return its top six scorers and bring in a top ten recruiting class that includes five-star prospects Ed Davis and Tyler Zeller.
Other notables who pulled out of the draft at the last second include Arizona's Chase Budinger, Gonzaga's Jeremy Pargo and my man Lester Hudson, who's back to terrorize the OVC for another season at Tennessee-Martin.
Your full list looks like this:
Staying In
Joe Alexander, West Virginia
Ryan Anderson, California
Darrell Arthur, Kansas
D.J. Augustin, Texas
Jerryd Bayless, Arizona
Michael Beasley, Kansas State
Mario Chalmers, Kansas
Chris Douglas-Roberts, Memphis
C.J. Giles, Oregon State
Donte Greene, Syracuse
Kalen Grimes, Missouri
Eric Gordon, Indiana
DeAndre Jordan, Texas A&M
Kosta Koufos, Ohio State
Jamont Gordon, Mississippi State
Shawn James, Duquesne
Davon Jefferson, Southern California
Brook Lopez, Stanford
Robin Lopez, Stanford
Kevin Love, UCLA
O.J. Mayo, Southern California
Richard Hendrix, Alabama
J.J. Hickson, North Carolina State
George Hill, IUPUI
Luc Richard Mbah a Moute, UCLA
JaVale McGee, Nevada
Kojo Mensah, Duquesne
Trent Plaisted, Brigham Young
Anthony Randolph, LSU
Walter Sharpe, Alabama-Birmingham
Derrick Rose, Memphis
Brandon Rush, Kansas
Marreese Speights, Florida
Bill Walker, Kansas State
Russell Westbrook, UCLA
Pulled Out
A.J. Abrams, Texas
Josh Akognon, Cal State Fullerton
Antonio Anderson, Memphis
Chase Budinger, Arizona
Lee Cummard, Brigham Young
Derrick Caracter, Louisville
DeMarre Carroll, Missouri
Josh Carter, Texas A&M
Robert Dozier, Memphis
Wayne Ellington, North Carolina
Alonzo Gee, Alabama
Danny Green, North Carolina
Lester Hudson, Tennessee-Martin
Stefon Jackson, Texas-El Paso
Ty Lawson, North Carolina
Leo Lyons, Missouri
Jerel McNeal, Marquette
Jeremy Pargo, Gonzaga
Josh Shipp, UCLA
Ron Steele, Alabama
John Riek, Winchendon School (MA)
Robert Vaden, Alabama-Birmingham
Who's ready to start debating spots 2-25?