More declarations of independence from the shackles of college today…

• West Virginia’s superhero Joe Alexander will test his draft status but will not sign with an agent
• Syracuse forward Donte Greene (18/7) will also make himself available for the draft
• Texas A&M’s DeAndre Jordan, who averaged all of 8/6 this year – but hey, you can’t teach size goes the saying, and he’s a legit 7’0 – will also test the waters to see where he stands

A few news and notes to cover on the penultimate day of the season…

• Louisville forward Earl Clark parlayed his scintillating NCAA numbers (15/8/7 blks) into a decision to go pro – no word on whether he’ll hire an agent.  He joins teammate Derrick Caracter, who apparently declared his intentions last week.
• Arizona freshman and surefire lottery pick Jerryd Bayless also declared his intention to go pro.   He averaged 20/4 assts last season, and never got a chance to play for the coach who recruited him, Lute Olson.
• Another one-and-done, Indiana’s Eric Gordon, is also leaving school for the NBA Draft.   This surprises absolutely nobody, and leaves IU in rough shape for next season (although Armon Basssett reportedly wants to speak with Crean about rejoining the Hoosiers).
• Not Knight.  Texas assistant coach Ken McDonald will take over as the head man at Western Kentucky next season.  The speculation re: Knight was fun while it lasted.
• Another HOF induction for Dick Vitale – this time the National Collegiate Basketball HOF.  As much as we rail this guy, we really have no problem with this.  His influence on the sport (both good and bad) has been immeasurable.

Finally, we’re still reeling from that sicknasty dunk that CDR threw on Kevin Love yesterday.  Some enterprising souls have already put it up on Youtube – somehow the foreign announcers makes it even more exciting.

With the early entry deadline now behind us, we got to thinking about what schools and conferences have been hit the hardest over the years in terms of losing guys early to the NBA draft. We already know, for example, that Florida is set to lose four underclassmen one year early (Noah, Horford, Green and Brewer), and that North Carolina may be preseason #1 next year thanks to its good fortune in keeping Lawson, Ellington and Hansbrough around for another year. We reviewed the early entry lists from 1976, the first year after the NBA eliminated its “hardship” application process, to 2007, and here is what we found:

Note: conference stats include all teams currently within that conference (e.g., Texas & Kansas includes stats from both the Big 12 and Big 8 eras).

Who has been hit the hardest? From our view the ACC and SEC have taken the brunt of early entry punishment over the past thirty years. Six SEC schools – LSU, Alabama, Kentucky, Florida, Georgia, and Arkansas – have lost a combined 54 players to the NBA over the years – nearly ten per team. North Carolina, Duke, Maryland and Georgia Tech have been similarly afflicted, having lost 38 players early to the NBA over the same period. Read the rest of this entry »