More Pac-12 Links

The NCAA ruled that next year's deadline to pull out of the draft will be before the first day of the spring signing period, typically mid-April. This year, players have until May 8 to withdraw from the draft. Essentially this means players will no longer have the opportunity to declare for the draft, work out for teams, and then come back.
This hurts players, but helps coaches, and obviously the players had no say in the ruling. I'll get to this more in depth later in the summer. In the meantime, here's what's going on with the rest of the Pac-12.

Stanford

Jeremy Green is trying to be the next Landry Fields, declaring for the NBA draft, but unlike Fields, Green isn't expected to be drafted.
Green was suspended from school for academic reasons, although at the time of the suspension, Johnny Dawkins said he expected him to come back. If Green doesn't return, Stanford's guard play and depth takes a big hit.

UCLA

This was announced a while ago, but still interesting. Instead of playing a non-conference game in January, UCLA will play Arizona on Jan. 5.
Remember last year, UCLA played St. John's late in the season, won, and got a boost for their tournament resume.

USC

Trojans land another junior college recruit. Here's the rest of USC's class.

Wing Byron Wesley from Etiwanda High
Guard Alexis Moore of Long Beach Poly
Center James Blasczyk of Lee College in Baytown, Texas
Forward Dewayne Dedmon (transferred from Antelope Valley College)
Forward Aaron Fuller. (transferred from Iowa)

Washington

God's Gift passes on Washington. That's right God's Gift Achiuwa (his real name) chose St. John's over the Huskies. Achiuwa, a two-time junior college All-American said Washington "was really close."

Washington St.
DeAngelo Casto, who has declared for the draft won't be charged with marijuana possession. His marijuana was seized without a warrant and the prosecutor's office says it won't go through with the case because of a lack of evidence.

Utah
Utes hire Salt Lake City Community College coach as an assitant.
Lots of change with the program as Larry Krystowiak takes over. Several players have asked for transfers, including Will Clyburn who announced he is transferring to Iowa State and freshman Preston Guiot who is headed to Southwest Baptist, as well as Shawn Glover and J.J. O’Brien who have been given permission to talk to other schools, and backups Chris Kupets and Antonio DiMaria who have announced they are transferring.

Summer in the Pac- 12

It's been 24 days since the NCAA National Championship game ended in a dud, and it's been too many days to count since I've updated this blog. I miss college hoops and I miss writing, so here we go.

I'll start by taking a shot at the Big East.

Big 6 conferences in order of total # of draft picks over last 10 drafts:

........total picked.....lottery pick.....1st rounder(not lotto).....2nd rounder

1-ACC- ....71...................21........................21..........................29

2-Pac 10-...66...................18........................15..........................33

3-big east-..62...................19........................15..........................28

4-big 12-....48...................14........................14..........................20

5-SEC-......44...................12.........................8...........................24

6-big 10-....33....................9.........................12..........................12

Despite having 6 fewer teams, (4 starting this season) the Pac-12 has four more NBA draft picks over the past 10 seasons and a whopping 33 more than the Big 10. I'm not saying the Pac-12 has the most talented players every season, NBA general managers are saying it.

Links

Arizona

Arizona basketball is still in the Top 20 in attendance.

Attendance actually dropped from last season, 13,815 in 2010 to 13,680 in 2011. Arizona ranked 1st in the Pac-10, but the Pac-10 ranked 7th among conferences, even behind the Mountain West.

Daniel Bejarano is officially transferring, as expected, making Arizona only 1 player over the scholarship limit for next year, meaning they still need lose 1 player scholarship before the season starts.

2011-12 (Limit of 12 because of NCAA sanctions)

Gone: Jamelle Horne, Derrick Williams

Off scholarship: Dondre Wise

Seniors

1. Kyle Fogg

2. Brendon Lavender

3. Jesse Perry

4. Alex Jacobson

Juniors

5. Solomon Hill

6. MoMo Jones

7. Kyryl Natyazhko

8. Kevin Parrom

Sophomores

9. Jordin Mayes

Freshmen

10. Sidiki Johnson

11. Nick Johnson

12. Josiah Turner

13. Angelo Chol

My thought is Alex Jacobsen, a 5th year senior will either transfer or choose to pay his own way, but with 6 guards, all of whom can really play, we may see a transfer. Lavender may be the 6th man in the guard rotation, so he may be the one who's out.

Arizona St.

ASU's basketball program is a sinking ship right now and Herb Sendek's job may be on the line after this season, but Sun Devils fans can turn on the NBA playoffs for some ASU hoops nostalgia.

James Harden is getting plenty of quality minutes after the Jeff Green trade, Eddie House can be seen making wide open jumpers for the Heat, and former Sun Devil Lionel Hollins is coaching the Grizzlies to potentially one of the biggest upsets in NBA playoff history.

Cal

This happened a while ago, but it's worth noting. De'End Parker de-committed from Cal and is going to UCLA. Important because Parker is one of the top JUCO transfers in the country, and UCLA last juco transfer, Lazeric Jones became their starting point guard last season.

Colorado

After going to the NIT, Colorado loses a ton, including lottery pick Alec Burks, but they do gain Carlon Brown, a transfer from Utah, who threw down this sick, ridiculous dunk a few years back.

Oregon

Oregon's recruiting class is ranked No. 19 by scout.com, so there's some hope for next season in Eugene. Jabari Brown, a guard who played in the Jordan Brand Classic is the gem.

Remember Michael Dunigan, a former prized Oregon recruit who left the Ducks to play pro ball in Israel, and then Estonia, that's right, a rival of Latvia. Well, he's eligible for the draft this year. Chad Ford says he's got a lot to prove to be considered for the 2nd round.

Oregon St.

Speaking of Europe, Oregon State went to the land of meatballs and Abba to sign a point guard for next season.

I'll get to the second half of the Pac-12 tomorrow, hope this whet the appetite.