2011 NBA Draft early entry analysis
Stay in school or go pro? Underclassmen had until 11:59 p.m. ET on April 24 to declare for the 2011 NBA Draft. A total of 69 players initially declared, but 25 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 12
| Underclassmen who've declared for NBA Draft (official) | |||||
| Player | School | Year | Pos. | Ht. | Wt. |
| Alec Burks | Colorado | So. | G | 6-6 | 185 |
| Burks is a capable of creating his own scoring opportunities at the NBA level, and he has legitimate size for a wing. That's why he'll be a lottery pick. | |||||
| Jacob Blankenship | Southeastern (Fla.) | Jr. | F/C | 6-9 | |
| I have never seen this person play, and there's a better-than-good chance you'll never see him play unless you happen to pop into the YMCA near wherever it is Blankenship lives. | |||||
| DeAngelo Casto | Washington State | Jr. | F | 6-8 | 255 |
| Real-life issues -- he has an infant son -- pushed Casto into the draft, and I'm OK with that. It's unlikely he'll be in the NBA next season, but he can and will earn a paycheck playing basketball somewhere. | |||||
| Roscoe Davis | Midland JC (Texas) | Fr. | F | 6-10 | 205 |
| I'm sure Davis has a reason for declaring for the NBA Draft, but I couldn't say for sure. I hope it's not to get drafted, though, because that's not happening. | |||||
| Mamadou Diarra | Chaminade (Hi.) | Jr. | C | 7-0 | 235 |
| Diarra is probably one of the top 10 centers in this draft, but so is Josh Harrellson, and Harrellson is better. So you get the point. | |||||
| Troy Gillenwater | New Mexico State | Jr. | F | 6-8 | 234 |
| Gillenwater is reportedly leaving school early because of financial needs for his family. He probably won't earn an NBA paycheck, but, like Casto, somebody somewhere will pay him to put a ball in a basket. | |||||
| Jeremy Green | Stanford | Jr. | G | 6-4 | 198 |
| I'm not sure why Green would want to leave Stanford to more than likely go undrafted, but that's precisely what he did. | |||||
| Jordan Hamilton | Texas | So. | G/F | 6-7 | 220 |
| Hamilton elevated his stock with a solid sophomore season. He'll be a borderline lottery pick and rightfully so. | |||||
| Tobias Harris | Tennessee | Fr. | F | 6-8 | 210 |
| Harris has an NBA body, and by all accounts he's a hard worker with no bad habits. He shouldn't get out of the lottery. | |||||
| Tyler Honeycutt | UCLA | So. | F | 6-7 | 195 |
| Honeycutt is an intriguing prospect with good size for a small forward. He's skinny, sure. But that won't keep somebody from taking him in the first round. | |||||
| Scotty Hopson | Tennessee | Jr. | G | 6-7 | 205 |
| Hopson had star potential at Tennessee, but he never tapped into it. There's no reason to think he will now. | |||||
| Kyrie Irving | Duke | Fr. | G | 6-2 | 180 |
| Irving is more of a pure point guard than Derrick Rose or John Wall, but not quite the athlete. Still, in a weak draft, the one-and-done product from Duke is the obvious first pick and a projected future All-Star. | |||||
| Reggie Jackson | Boston College | Jr. | G | 6-3 | 208 |
| Jackson is one of many who should benefit from this weak draft. He'll probably go in the first round and get guaranteed money. | |||||
| Terrence Jennings | Louisville | Jr. | F | 6-9 | 220 |
| If you're going to have a questionable work ethic, you'd better at least be awesome. Jennings is not. So he's a second-round pick at best. | |||||
| Cory Joseph | Texas | Fr. | G | 6-3 | 185 |
| Joseph has been impressive in early workouts. The guess here is that he'll be selected in the second round and receive a guaranteed contract from somebody. | |||||
| Kentucky | Fr. | F | 6-11 | 260 | |
| Kanter hasn't played competitive basketball in well over a year, but he's still a top 10 pick based on his reputation and potential. | |||||
| Colorado | So. | G | 6-5 | ||
| The Ryan Kelly from Duke doesn't belong in the NBA Draft, and he's much better than this Ryan Kelly. | |||||
| Dan Kelm | Viterbo (Wisc.) | So. | G | 6-0 | |
| Irrelevant prospect. | |||||
| Brandon Knight | Kentucky | Fr. | G | 6-3 | 185 |
| Knight should be the second point guard selected. That'll get him in the top 10. | |||||
| Malcolm Lee | UCLA | Jr. | G | 6-5 | 180 |
| Lee has NBA potential, and he'll get picked somewhere. But this is a situation where the rush to leave school doesn't make much sense. | |||||
| Kawhi Leonard | San Diego State | So. | F | 6-7 | 225 |
| Leonard went from an unheralded recruit to a lottery pick in a span of two years. He's wise to cash in now. | |||||
| Travis Leslie | Georgia | Jr. | G | 6-4 | 202 |
| Leslie is undersized shooting guard who can't really shoot. But he's so athletic that somebody will take him late in the first round. | |||||
| DeAndre Liggins | Kentucky | Jr. | G | 6-6 | 210 |
| Liggins is taking advantage of a weak draft and getting out of Kentucky before a stellar recruiting class makes him vulnerable to sliced minutes. The decision makes sense for both of those reasons. | |||||
| Shelvin Mack | Butler | Jr. | G | 6-3 | 215 |
| Mack helped Butler make back-to-back title games. He's not a lock for the first round, but he was going to be an undersized combo guard whether he turned pro this year or next year. | |||||
| Keishawn Mayes | Campbell | Jr. | F | 6-7 | 225 |
| Mayes averaged 10 minutes per game at Campbell last season. That suggests he's not very good. | |||||
| Darius Morris | Michigan | So. | G | 6-4 | 190 |
| Morris could've possibly benefitted from another year at Michigan, and Michigan would've definitely benefitted. But when you go from a nobody to a likely first-round pick in about five months, the wise move typically involves turning pro. | |||||
| Marcus Morris | Kansas | Jr. | F | 6-10 | 235 |
| Once upon a time, Marcus was considered the best NBA prospect in his family by a wide margin. Now it's up for debate. | |||||
| Markieff Morris | Kansas | Jr. | F | 6-10 | 245 |
| A nice junior season at KU turned the "other" Morris Twin into a possible lottery pick. | |||||
| Saint Louis | So. | F | 6-9 | 220 | |
| Reed didn't play last season because of off-the-court issues at Saint Louis. He's likely to go undrafted. | |||||
| Jereme Richmond | Illinois | Fr. | G/F | 6-7 | 205 |
| Richmond will be a nice "upside" pick for somebody. He's not NBA ready, but he's a compelling prospect. | |||||
| Carleton Scott | Notre Dame | Sr. | F | 6-7 | 217 |
| Scott remaining in the draft is a questionable decision -- particularly considering he probably won't be picked. | |||||
| Josh Selby | Kansas | Fr. | G | 6-2 | 185 |
| Selby did nothing to help himself at KU, but somebody will still pick him based on potential. | |||||
| Iman Shumpert | Georgia Tech | Jr. | G | 6-5 | 210 |
| Shumpert has long been an intriguing prospect but never been a great college player. He's a late second-round pick, at best. | |||||
| Chris Singleton | Florida State | Jr. | F | 6-9 | 225 |
| Singleton already defends at an NBA level. That's enough to make him a lottery pick (or at least it should be). | |||||
| Greg Smith | Fresno State | So. | F | 6-10 | 250 |
| Smith could be a project in the NBA, somebody who starts as nothing but becomes something. But he's headed for the NBDL if he remains in this country. | |||||
| Isaiah Thomas | Washington | Jr. | G | 5-9 | 185 |
| If Aaron Brooks can play in the NBA, why not Thomas? His decision is tough for Washington basketball, but not crazy if the goal is to get paid. | |||||
| Trey Thompkins | Georgia | Jr. | F | 6-9 | 245 |
| Thompkins has NBA size, and his versatility will get him guaranteed money from some franchise. | |||||
| Klay Thompson | Washington State | Jr. | G | 6-6 | 202 |
| Thompson's late-season arrest didn't help things. But it didn't hurt him enough to knock him out of the first round. | |||||
| Tristan Thompson | Texas | Fr. | F | 6-9 | 230 |
| Thompson is a tough, athletic and versatile forward. He could've used another year at Texas to develop, sure. But he'll be picked in the lottery on potential alone. | |||||
| Nikola Vucevic | USC | Jr. | F | 6-10 | 240 |
| Vucevic has an NBA body to go with an NBA skill set. The prediction here is that he goes lower than he should and makes a franchise happy. | |||||
| Kemba Walker | Connecticut | Jr. | G | 6-1 | 170 |
| Walker, after winning a national title and graduating, had nothing significant left to accomplish in college. So he turned pro early, and now he'll be a top 10 pick. | |||||
| Antoine Watson | FIU | Sr. | G | 6-4 | 200 |
| This is the name of a person you probably haven't heard of and probably will never hear of again. | |||||
| Derrick Williams | Arizona | So. | F | 6-8 | 240 |
| Williams stocked soared while he led Arizona to the Elite Eight. He could and should go as high as second, perhaps No. 1 overall. | |||||
| Jordan Williams | Maryland | So. | F | 6-10 | 260 |
| Williams has dropped weight and redesigned his body since the end of the season. He's now likely to go in the first round because he's a true post who can rebound. | |||||
| Underclassmen who declared and withdrew (25 players) | |||||
| Player | School | Year | Pos. | Ht. | Wt. |
| Olu Ashaolu | Louisiana Tech | Jr. | F | 6-7 | 228 |
| Keion Bell | Pepperdine | Jr. | G | 6-3 | 200 |
| Laurence Bowers | Missouri | Jr. | F | 6-8 | 210 |
| TyShwan Edmondson | Austin Peay | Jr. | G | 6-4 | 175 |
| Kim English | Missouri | Jr. | G | 6-6 | 200 |
| Ashton Gibbs | Pittsburgh | Jr. | G | 6-2 | 195 |
| Desmond Holloway | Coastal Carolina | Jr. | G | 6-3 | 167 |
| Tu Holloway | Xavier | Jr. | G | 6-0 | 185 |
| Orlando Johnson | UCSB | Jr. | G | 6-5 | 205 |
| Reggie Johnson | Miami (Fla.) | So. | C | 6-10 | 303 |
| Tiondre Johnson | Coastal Bend JC (Texas) | So. | G | 6-6 | |
| Kevin Jones | West Virginia | Jr. | F | 6-8 | 260 |
| Terrence Jones | Kentucky | Fr. | F | 6-9 | 240 |
| David Loubeau | Texas A&M | Jr. | F | 6-8 | 230 |
| Greg Mangano | Yale | Jr. | F | 6-10 | 240 |
| Cameron Moore | UAB | Jr. | F | 6-8 | 225 |
| Darrion Pellum | Hampton | Jr. | G | 6-6 | 205 |
| J.P. Primm | UNC-Asheville | Jr. | G | 6-1 | 195 |
| Ralph Sampson III | Minnesota | Jr. | F/C | 6-11 | 241 |
| John Shurna | Northwestern | Jr. | F | 6-8 | 215 |
| Tony Taylor | George Washington | Jr. | G | 6-1 | 191 |
| Hollis Thompson | Georgetown | So. | F | 6-7 | 205 |
| Staten Island | Jr. | G | 5-10 | ||
| Charlie Westbrook | South Dakota | Jr. | G | 6-4 | 208 |
| Brandon Wood | Valparaiso | Jr. | G | 6-2 | 190 |
