You Have Until 5pm Monday, Jodie Meeks…

Posted by rtmsf on June 14th, 2009

Well, we’re down to the wire again this year – the NBA’s early entry withdrawal deadline is 5pm EDT Monday – and there are still several notable players who haven’t made up their minds yet.

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Before we take a look at the stragglers, let’s take a quick peek at a few who made up their minds over the last few days.  It should be noted that, by and large, these are good decisions.  It will be interesting to see if that holds through Monday’s deadline.

Players Returning to School

  • Gani Lawal, Georgia Techinteresting decision, as Lawal was probably a late first round pick.  Tech may be this year’s Wake Forest (mucho talent on an underachiever) with Lawal and Iman Shumpert returning with superfrosh Derrick Favors coming in.
  • Damion James, Texasanother great decision, as James was staring second round or undrafted square in the face.
  • Tyler Smith, Tennessee – Bruce Pearl has to be thrilled as he couldn’t have expected to have the hard-working Smith back for a third year in Knoxville.
  • Devan Downey & Dominque Archie, South Carolina – neither of these players were ever serious about leaving because they weren’t going to be picked, but their return will make South Carolina a formidable presence in the SEC East next year.

Players Officially Leaving

  • Jrue Holiday, UCLAno big surprise as Holiday has been moving up the boards  in recent weeks.  Maybe Holiday is another example of a player who blossoms at the next level (he sure didn’t at this one).

The one player whose name is on everyone’s mind due to the fact that it will significantly impact next year’s rankings, however, is Kentucky’s Jodie Meeks.  If he decides to return, and there’s nobody in Lexington who seems to know definitively what he’s going to do, then Kentucky is your preseason #1 team without question.  If he does not return, then it’ll probably go to Kansas with Kentucky and several others coming in closely behind.

Here are a few of the names of other players who have waited to the last minute to let the world know their decisions…

There are quite a few smaller names, but we feel as if this year most of the impact players who should be returning have made a good decision to do so.  We’ll try to update things tomorrow as the news flows in.

rtmsf (3998 Posts)


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One response to “You Have Until 5pm Monday, Jodie Meeks…”

  1. Willie says:

    Don’t get me wrong I know UK is bringing in a ton of top level talent and if Meeks returns they should be really good. But I just don’t see how they are the clear cut #1 over Kansas. Kansas is bringing in 3 top 30 players (with one top 10 in X Henry) to a team that went to the Sweet 16 last year, and is led by two guys (Collins and Aldrich) that played key roles in winnng the national title game two years ago.

    Everyone talks about how good Meeks and Patterson are…but they were just good enough last year to get them to the NIT. Obviously they are going to be surrounded by a ton more talent and a better coach…but I would not rank them above Kansas. Heavily relying on freshman to turn you from an NIT team to a national champion has never happened in NCAA history from what I remember. I know Cousins and Wall are damn talented, but I don’t think either of those guys has a polished enough game to elevate them above Kansas. Aldrich and Collins will be better college basketballs players than Cousins or Wall next year. Are they comparable NBA prospects? No. But will they be better in the college game next year? Almost guaranteed.

    I think people are getting a little too caught up in the hype that Cal is bringing to UK.

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