FanHouse RobertVaden

In unsurprising news, Gonzaga's Jeremy Pargo and Alabama's Ronald Steele have taken their names out of the NBA draft and will return to school.

Today is the deadline for underclassmen who still have their eligibility to pull their names out of the draft. UAB's Robert Vaden already has, Joe Alexander, Mario Chalmers and Bill Walker are staying in the draft. Reports also have UNC's Ty Lawson, Wayne Ellington and Danny Green returning to school.

Neither Pargo or Steele were looked at as first round locks ... but were entering into their final collegiate seasons and had nothing to lose by testing the waters. Pargo was projected to be a second round pick had he stayed and got a long of feedback on his game during this process.

Gonzaga should be a top 10-15 team next season.

Steele is a bit more interesting. He is a redshirt senior who missed all of last season with a knee injury and really wanted to just get his name out there. He even worked out for the Charlotte Bobcats this morning before filing the paperwork that took his name out of the draft.

Now Alabama is waiting on work from Richard Hendrix, a junior forward, and his intentions. He, like Steele, has not signed with an agent and has until 5 p.m. ET today to pull his name out of the draft.

One of the oldest underclassmen to declare for the NBA Draft will be going back to school. Robert Vaden has informed coach Mike Davis that he will be returning to UAB for his senior season.

Vaden played at Indiana for two seasons and left when Davis left to coach in Birmingham. He sat out the 2006-2007 season before having an outstanding junior year this past season.

Vaden is already 23 years old (he'll turn 24 next March) which let some to think he may stay in the draft. His draft stock most likely won't change next year. He'll be older than most draftees, which now means that his talent has hit the ceiling.

He will re-join a Blazers team that should be good enough for an NCAA Tournament bid and could (maybe) challenge Memphis in Conference-USA. He led the team with a 21.1 ppg average and dumped an amazing 142 threes.

Trying to figure out what a 20, 21 year old is going to do with his life is tough. Especially when these guys are agentless and are told different things by different people with different interests.

Still, with the 5 p.m. ET deadline for NBA Draft prospects who still have college eligibility and not signed with an agent looming, let's take a look at who has to make the big decisions today.

Chase Budinger (Arizona): He says he could come back to school, but even his coach says he'd be nuts to. He'll be a midround pick and the kind of guy who a team late in the first round won't be able to pass up.

Ty Lawson (North Carolina): I think Lawson is in. He seemed as if he was trying to find a reason to leave Carolina and he seems to have a lock on getting picked in the first round (Nuggets, Spurs). This isn't an elite point guard draft and Lawson would fit certain teams.

Bill Walker (Kansas State): This is a tough one. Even before his injury, no one really knew where Walker's value was. He was the perfect example of a guy who someone could take a chance in the 20s ... or he could fall out of the first round altogether. Initial reports say he tore his meniscus which means his pre-draft workouts are over. I think Walker comes back to school if he doesn't get any better news on his knee.

When Maryland beat Morgan State on December 6, it was Gary Williams' 131st nonconference home win in 134 tries. When Maryland hosts Delaware on Friday, he'll take his third whack at number 132. After losing to Ohio, Williams and the Terps got beat in College Park again yesterday by their neighbors from American. That's a pretty rare occurance in the 80 year history between the two schools. The only other Eagles win was in their first meeting, sometime in the 1926-27 season. The exact date has escaped memory, something that's unlikely to happen with yesterday's 67-59 win.

Derrick Mercer won't soon forget his 18 points, for example, and Bryce Simon will always remember his career-high 17. None of the Eagles will forget holding the Terps to five first half baskets nor will they need reminders of the way they outhustled, outrebounded and outdefended their more heralded opponents. For a team that's lost to Fairfield and Loyola (MD), this win came out of left field and will have Williams pulling out his hair in search of answers.

Greivis Vasquez had 28 points and the other guard Eric Hayes had 16 but the rest of the Terps only made four baskets. Maryland was so flat and lifeless, though, that its pretty clear the problems go well beyond shooting. Williams benched Braxton Dupree and Landon Milbourne in the second half, probably the first of many changes in what's looking like a long season.

Elsewhere on the mid major hardcourts: