2010 NBA Draft early entry analysis
Stay in school or go pro? Underclassmen had until 11:59 p.m. ET on April 25 to declare for the 2010 NBA Draft. A total of 80 players initially declared, but 29 pulled out by the NCAA imposed May 8 withdrawal deadline. Commentary provided by CBSSports.com senior writer Gary Parrish.
U.S. underclassmen early entry list • International
Updated May 16
| Underclassmen staying in draft (51 players) | |||||
| Player | School | Year | Pos. | Ht. | Wt. |
| Solomon Alabi | Florida State | So. | C | 7-1 | 250 |
| Alabi will be picked in the first round not for what he has done as much as for what NBA people think he can do someday. | |||||
| Cole Aldrich | Kansas | Jr. | C | 6-11 | 245 |
| It's doubtful Aldrich will ever be an All-Star center. But he'll almost certainly be a rotation player for 10 years. | |||||
| Al-Farouq Aminu | Wake Forest | Fr. | F | 6-9 | 215 |
| People are debating whether Aminu is a small forward or power forward instead of recognizing he's a 19 year-old who averaged 16 and 11 in the ACC. Just draft him. You'll figure out how to use him. | |||||
| James Anderson | Oklahoma State | Jr. | G | 6-6 | 210 |
| Anderson has nice size and an adequate-enough jumper to be a good NBA scoring guard. Any non-lottery team would be lucky to get him. | |||||
| Luke Babbitt | Nevada | So. | F | 6-9 | 225 |
| The guess here is that Babbitt's stock increases once individual workouts get going. He's a 6-foot-9 shooter who lacks the hype of Gordon Hayward but could be the better pro. | |||||
| Armon Bassett | Ohio | Jr. | G | 6-1 | 180 |
| Bassett isn't good enough to be a problem. But he is a problem. So he'll make a living somewhere other than the NBA. | |||||
| Eric Bledsoe | Kentucky | Fr. | G | 6-1 | 190 |
| Bledsoe was wise to leave after one season. He's a first-round pick and, thus, a millionaire who won't have to worry about being overshadowed by Brandon Knight at UK. | |||||
| Dee Bost | Mississippi State | So. | G | 6-2 | 170 |
| Bost entered the draft without a guarantee and said he'd be OK with going overseas. Which is good. Because that's where's he probably headed. | |||||
| Craig Brackins | Iowa State | Jr. | F | 6-10 | 230 |
| Brackins' junior season didn't go as planned. But he's still tall and skilled, and he'll make an NBA roster, one way or another. | |||||
| Avery Bradley | Texas | Fr. | G | 6-3 | 175 |
| Bradley is an undersized shooting guard, but too talented to slip out of the first round. He could be a steal in the mid-20s. | |||||
| Derrick Caracter | UTEP | Jr. | F | 6-9 | 275 |
| Caracter will never be what some thought he'd be back when he was 14 or 15. But is he good enough to play in the NBA? Yes, I think he is. | |||||
| DeMarcus Cousins | Kentucky | Fr. | F | 6-11 | 260 |
| Cousins has an NBA body and will make an immediate impact in the league. The only question mark is his attitude. But it's not going to be a question mark that causes him to fall out of the top five. | |||||
| Jordan Crawford | Xavier | So. | G | 6-4 | 195 |
| Crawford's strong NCAA tournament pushed him into the 20-to-40 range. He'll almost certainly make a roster regardless of where he's picked. | |||||
| Ed Davis | North Carolina | So. | F | 6-10 | 250 |
| I'm not telling you it's smart to use a lottery pick on a sophomore who has never dominated in college. I'm just telling you somebody is going to do it. | |||||
| Devin Ebanks | West Virginia | So. | F | 6-9 | 215 |
| Ebanks can defend at the NBA level right now. That alone probably makes him worth a first-round pick (though there's a "knucklehead factor" that must be considered). | |||||
| Derrick Favors | Georgia Tech | Fr. | F | 6-10 | 246 |
| All the physical tools are in place with Favors, and there's no real ceiling on what he can become. That's why he'll go as high as No. 2 and no worse than No. 4. | |||||
| Courtney Fortson | Arkansas | So. | G | 5-11 | 180 |
| Fortson is perfect for the NBA team in need of a tiny point guard who's been suspended like 500 times in two years of college. | |||||
| Tiny Gallon | Oklahoma | Fr. | F | 6-9 | 300 |
| Allegations of a connection to an agent basically pushed Gallon out of Oklahoma even though he could easily go undrafted. | |||||
| Charles Garcia | Seattle | Jr. | F | 6-9 | 220 |
| Garcia is an intriguing prospect who had done all he could do at Seattle. It's unclear if he'll make a roster, but it's time to find out. | |||||
| Paul George | Fresno State | So. | G/F | 6-8 | 210 |
| George is an explosive athlete who could go in the first round based on -- you guessed it! -- his upside. | |||||
| Manny Harris | Michigan | Jr. | G | 6-5 | 185 |
| Harris is either leaving a year too late or a year too early. Either way, this isn't the time. | |||||
| Gordon Hayward | Butler | So. | G/F | 6-8 | 200 |
| Hayward's stock probably peaked thanks to a nice NCAA tournament. He'll go as high as 10 and no lower than 20. That means he made the right decision to leave Butler after two seasons. | |||||
| Xavier Henry | Kansas | Fr. | G | 6-6 | 220 |
| Henry was always going to be a one-and-done player. The only surprise is that he's a one-and-done player who lost in the second round of the NCAA tournament. | |||||
| Darington Hobson | New Mexico | Jr. | G/F | 6-7 | 205 |
| Hobson could fall into the second round, but he'll almost certainly make an NBA roster. He's versatile and productive enough to help somebody. | |||||
| Armon Johnson | Nevada | Jr. | G | 6-3 | 195 |
| Ramon Sessions is one Nevada guard who was drafted in the second round and made it in the NBA. Johnson could be another. | |||||
| Wesley Johnson | Syracuse | Jr. | F | 6-7 | 198 |
| Johnson proved to be an elite talent in one season at Syracuse. He could go in the top five and probably can't slip much below that. | |||||
| Dominique Jones | South Florida | Jr. | G | 6-4 | 205 |
| Three more inches and Jones might be a lottery pick. Still, he's talented enough to go in the second round and earn a contract the unconventional way. | |||||
| Mac Koshwal | DePaul | Jr. | F/C | 6-10 | 255 |
| Can you really blame somebody for leaving DePaul after three years and all those losses? | |||||
| Sylven Landesberg | Virginia | So. | G | 6-6- | 207 |
| Landesberg missed the end of the season for what was described as academic reasons. So he has essentially been pushed into this draft, for better or worse. | |||||
| Gani Lawal | Georgia Tech | Jr. | F | 6-9 | 234 |
| Lawal isn't a lock to go in the first round. But he's long and athletic and only 20 years old. Somebody will take him and be patient. | |||||
| Tommy Mason-Griffin | Oklahoma | Fr. | G | 5-11 | 203 |
| It's not always necessary to be "ready" for the NBA; sometimes you just have to be ready to be drafted. Alas, Mason-Griffin is neither. That's not good. | |||||
| Elijah Millsap | UAB | Jr. | G | 6-6 | 218 |
| Millsap is the brother of Jazz standout Paul Millsap. That won't help him get drafted, of course. But it's a decent conversation-starter. | |||||
| Greg Monroe | Georgetown | So. | C | 6-11 | 250 |
| Nearly every mock draft has Ed Davis ahead of Greg Monroe, but I think that's backwards. I'd take Monroe over Davis and ahead of all but about five or six prospects. | |||||
| A.J. Ogilvy | Vanderbilt | Jr. | C | 6-11 | 250 |
| Ogilvy might play in the NBA. More likely he'll have a lucrative career playing outside of this country. | |||||
| Daniel Orton | Kentucky | Fr. | F | 6-10 | 255 |
| Some people think Orton was stupid to leave after barely playing at UK. But he might be picked in the lottery and sign for millions, and I'm not sure how that translates to stupid. | |||||
| Patrick Patterson | Kentucky | Jr. | F | 6-9 | 235 |
| Patterson is equipped to immediately move into a rotation. He doesn't have the upside of some of his UK teammates, but he's one of the safest picks in this draft. | |||||
| Larry Sanders | VCU | Jr. | F | 6-11 | 235 |
| Sanders looked like a pro at the LeBron James Skills Academy last summer. This summer, he'll become a pro (likely as a first-round pick). | |||||
| Samardo Samuels | Louisville | So. | F | 6-9 | 260 |
| Samuels was once considered the best prospect in his high school class. So was Josh McRoberts. I'll let you can make the connection. | |||||
| John Sloan | Huntingdon (Ala.) | Jr. | G | 5-11 | 175 |
| Sloan wouldn't be selected in a 298,000-round draft. But he told me he saw no reason not to declare once he knew he was quitting basketball anyway. So he declared. And now he's planning a draft party. | |||||
| Lance Stephenson | Cincinnati | Fr. | F | 6-5 | 210 |
| Stephenson was a better NBA prospect as a high school freshman than he is now. I suspect he'll be disappointed on draft night, though he's still gifted enough to play in the NBA someday. | |||||
| Evan Turner | Ohio State | Jr. | G/F | 6-7 | 205 |
| Turner's decision to return to OSU for a third year paid off. He'll likely go second, behind only John Wall. | |||||
| Lazar Trifunovic | Radford | Jr. | F | 6-8 | 225 |
| Trifunovic was a pretty good Big South player. But only great/once-in-a-decade Big South players end up in the NBA. | |||||
| Ekpe Udoh | Baylor | Jr. | F/C | 6-10 | 240 |
| Udoh went from a mostly unknown transfer to a lottery pick thanks to his ability to blocks shots and rebound. He won't score a bunch, but I like him. | |||||
| John Wall | Kentucky | Fr. | G | 6-4 | 195 |
| Wall was forever supposed to be the first pick in this draft, and that's exactly what he'll be. And then he'll be an All-Star inside of three years. | |||||
| Willie Warren | Oklahoma | So. | G | 6-4 | 200 |
| Warren will be drafted somewhere. But he would've been a lottery pick last year, and he's certainly not that now. | |||||
| C.J. Webster | San Jose State | Jr. | F | 6-9 | 255 |
| Webster decided it's time to make money somewhere playing basketball because he's the father of a newborn. He won't make NBA money. But he'll earn a paycheck at some level. | |||||
| Terrico White | Mississippi | So. | G | 6-5 | 213 |
| White is an incredible specimen and top-tier athlete. The only concern is the way he disappears and defers. Somebody will take him based on nothing more than his physical tools. | |||||
| Hassan Whiteside | Marshall | Fr. | F | 6-11 | 215 |
| Whiteside's reputation might cause him to slip, but he's an awesome talent. Could be a bust. Could be an All-Star. I'd be willing to roll the dice anywhere outside of the top 10. | |||||
| Elliot Williams | Memphis | So. | G | 6-4 | 180 |
| Williams can't drive right, shoot it well or play the point the way some would like to think. But he's an athletic combo guard who can score, and that'll get him on a roster. | |||||
| Stevy Worah-Ozimo | Slippery Rock | Jr. | F | 6-10 | |
| If Worah-Ozimo was an NBA player, you would've likely heard from him. He's not, so you haven't. | |||||
| Jahmar Young | New Mexico State | Jr. | G | 6-5 | 180 |
| Williams can't drive right, shoot it well or play the point the way some would like to think. But he's an athletic combo guard who can score, and that'll get him on a roster. | |||||
