Category: College Basketball (Page 140 of 153)

Freshman phenom John McRoberts will play another year at Duke, according to the school’s athletic department website.

“I am very excited about my decision to return to Duke to continue my academic and athletic career,” said McRoberts. “I love the atmosphere at Duke and the support the university receives from the community. There is no place better to play college basketball. I am looking forward to working with the coaching staff to further develop my skills as a player. The relationships that I have in place here played a major role in my decision. I am anxious to see my bond with Coach K, the rest of the staff and my teammates grow even stronger. Additionally, I am eager to continue to build on several relationships that I have developed in the community through working with our outreach programs.”

NBADraft.net has McRoberts going with the tenth pick in their mock draft. The power forward was projected to go as high as fourth when the NCAA tournament began, but it’s unclear whether or not this projected slide has anything to do with his decision to return.

With Shelden Williams gone, McRoberts will be asked to take on more of a scoring load and should be the team’s main inside option. He’s already a pretty good shooter, and I’m not exactly sure why Tyrus Thomas and LaMarcus Aldridge are considered better long-term prospects at the power forward position. I suppose both of those players had more opportunity to shine during the season and in the tournament, but McRoberts play in the second half of the season was spectacular, if a bit inconsistent. What do you expect from a freshman in an elite program?

UCLA sophomore guards Jordan Farmar and Arron Afflalo both declared for the NBA draft yesterday, but wisely, neither player will hire an agent, making them eligible to return to school for their junior seasons.

UCLA coach Ben Howland said he talked to 17 or 18 NBA general managers, who projected Afflalo and Farmar would be selected late in the first round or early in the second round of the June 28 draft.

“Whether they both go this year or come out at the end of next year, they’re both going to be in the NBA. That’s a given,” Howland said at a campus news conference. “I am totally 100 percent behind them, as is our whole UCLA basketball family in their decision to test the waters.”

Like Farmar, Afflalo said he would return to school if he wasn’t assured of being a first-round pick.

Although both players performed well in the NCAA tournament, neither player is a lock to be a first round pick. There are questions about Farmar’s quickness and his inconsistent three point shooting, while Afflalo showed an inability to score against athletic off guards, who he’ll be facing on a nightly basis at the next level. Afflalo is the better defender, and was often matched up with the best perimeter scorer on the other team.

I think we’ll see both guys return to school, but a couple great individual workouts could be the difference between the late first round and the early second.