Julian Wright: Will He Stay Or Will He Go?

Julian Wright: Will he return for his junior year?
(Credit: www.lawrence.com)

Hello, Lawrence. Your worst April nightmare may come true a little more than two weeks after the 40-minute nightmare imposed upon you by UCLA in Sacramento. That's because Kansas sophomore Julian Wright is now considering entering the NBA Draft after stating all season that he'd return for his junior year.

In fact, Wright has promised his mother that he would not leave college without earning a degree. At present, the 6'8" forward is expected to graduate next spring. Nevertheless, Wright is in a difficult situation, as he will likely be a top 10 draft pick and possibly in the top 5. If Wright enters the draft and is selected between picks 3 and 10, he is due to make between $1.57 and $2.91 million in his rookie campaign (source: Hoops Hype)

If Wright declares for the NBA Draft, it is unknown whether he will sign with an agent immediately. In the case that he leaves, the Jayhawks will still return a frontline consisting of Sasha Kaun, Darrell Arthur, Darnell Jackson. Four-star recruit Cole Aldrich (6'10" 245 lbs) will be coming to Lawrence this fall and can play some key minutes for the Jayhawks, especially to fill potential minutes left by the aforementioned Wright.

Other News
Two coaching vacancies seem likely to be filled.

- Arkansas has come to an agreement with South Alabama head coach John Pelphrey. The 38-year-old also starred at Kentucky and served as an assistant for Billy Donovan at Marshall and Florida . Pelphrey will inherit five returning starters from a NCAA tournament team, led by SEC Freshman of the Year Patrick Beverley; however, this is clouded by news surfacing that two players tested positive for marijuana and another being in serious academic trouble.

- Wichita State head coach Mark Turgeon is expected to tour the campus of Texas A&M in hopes of being Billy Gillispie's successor. Upon his return from College Station, Turgeon will meet with his returnees, including rising seniors P.J. Couisnard and Sean Ogirri, and inform them of his decision. Following the Shockers run to the Sweet 16 in 2006, Turgeon was given a contract extension paying him $750,000 annually. That number may be doubled if hired by Texas A&M. According to CBS Sportsline, if Turgeon bolts for A&M, then Wichita State will move quickly to fill the vacancy. An early list of candidates includes Wichita State assistant coach Scott Spinelli, Northern Colorado head coach Tad Boyle, Oral Roberts head coach Scott Sutton and Winthrop head coach Gregg Marshall.

BracketBusters Fallout

Outside of Selection Sunday, the ESPN BracketBusters weekend is the most important for mid-major programs in terms of exposure to a national audience. Although the competition has become diluted by including a whopping 102 teams, it demonstrated yet again through the 13 televised games that the mid-majors can produce high quality basketball.

Performance by Conference
Big West (3-5): Double digit losses for Long Beach St. and Cal St. Fullerton can't help seeding.
Colonial (5-7): A bit deceiving. 3-1 for the top four teams in the conference. The caboose continues to let down the conference.
Horizon (7-2): Wright St. continues to gain credibility as the potential team who may win the league tournament. Butler's home loss to Southern Illinois may have been more meaningful than all seven wins.
Metro Atlantic (6-4): Nothing of import. Marist, Siena, and Loyola (MD) all win.
Mid-American (6-6): Akron trounces an outmatched Austin Peay team while Toledo falls at home to Old Dominion. If Kent State can learn to value the ball, they could win the league tournament.
Missouri Valley (5-5): So-so performance from the Valley. I expected more from the conference with the RPI of 7. SIU and Bradley took care of business while Creighton and Wichita St. disappointed. Northern Iowa and Missouri St. (to a lesser degree) lost to better teams in Nevada and Winthrop, respectively.
Ohio Valley (3-8): Ugly on all accounts.
Western Athletic (7-2): Another case of being undermatched, but the league took care of business. Utah St. and Hawaii with big road wins while Nevada continues to roll. New Mexico State gets its biggest non-conference win, although it's not enough to make a case for an at-large bid. Overall, their performance begs the question about a second bid allotment.

Big Winners1. Southern Illinois: The Salukis defeated Butler on the Bulldogs' home court, making an even stronger case for a #3 seed.

2. Winthrop: When your RPI suffers as a result of your conference affiliation, the Golden Eagles have to capitalize on every opportunity and capitalize they did.
T-3: Drexel & Bradley: Both teams were not supposed to win, especially if you watched the first 10 minutes of each game. Rebounding at both ends of the floor and never giving up earned these two teams victories crucial to their at-large bid resumes.
5. The WAC: The top seven teams in the conference won their games while the two that didn't carried 7 wins into Saturday ... combined. Expect heavy consideration for a second bid even if Nevada steamrolls through the conference tournament.

Honorable Mention: Appalachian St. defeated a hungry Wichita St. team who is just starting to come around after a disastrous January. DJ Thompson hit 'the shocker' to stun the crowd at Koch. Add that to neutral court victories against Vanderbilt and Virginia, as well as a road victory at VCU.

The Losers
1. VCU: They needed a win against a RPI top-50 opponent. They failed. No excuses.
2. Creighton: The home loss to Drexel appears worse than it actually is because Drexel has played less than stellar basketball in the last two months, falling earlier this week to William & Mary. Bluejays fans will now have nightmares about Frank Elegar for days on end.
T-3. Wichita St. & Missouri St.: Had Wichita pulled this off, I wonder if the media would've hailed this a quality win. Same case with Missouri State. Teams like Winthrop and Appalachian St. often get disrespected by pundits because of ignorance. When the day is done, the conference RPI of 7 is called into question following losses like these.
5. Butler: A win against a quality opponent would have refreshed the minds of fans who saw them win the Preseason NIT. Graves' bout with the flu made matters worse.

The Goings On

* Tune in tomorrow at 4pm on CBS for Ohio State at Florida, for no reason other than to watch the 2007 #1 overall pick in the NBA Draft (Greg Oden) versus the guy (Joakim Noah) who would've been the 2006 #1 pick had he bolted for the Association last season. The other eight guys on the floor are fantastic as well. Scratch that, Al Horford isn't playing; make that seven.

* The MSG Brawl between the Nuggets and Knicks is fresh in our mind. May I remind you of this brawl and Ben Wallace's overreaction? The use of the telestrator at the 2-minute mark is priceless. Where's the Czar of the Telestrator when you need him?

* Wichita State finally goes down in Las Vegas to the New Mexico Lobos. PJ Couisnard, the team's second leading scorer (and best player, IMHO), did not play due to a stomach virus. Whoever created this should be shot ... in the face. I like how the Shocker highlight package includes moving screens by Kyle Wilson at 1m15s and 1m35s on three-pointers and a questionable carry by Couisnard. I hope some sick, sad Lobos fans make a video similar to this pile of garbage.

* In the Association, the Wiz kids snapped the Suns' 15-game winning streak. AI debuted for the Nuggets, but in a losing cause. Earlier in the week, he offered his side of the story to Stephen A. Smith in that he did not demand a trade from the Philadelphia 76ers. Spin control by Billy "35 cents on the dollar" King? Quite possibly. Thank you, Bill Simmons.