Posts tagged Wayne Ellington at FanHouse

All around Tar Heel Nation, there are smiles. Ever since April, it has been rare to see such an occassion (with the obvious exception of Player of the Year Tyler Hansbrough's decision to not go into the NBA Draft). There was the blowout to Kansas in the Final Four, Roy Williams wearing a KU sticker during the title game and the defection of four players from a team that would've been favored next season.

Today, Ty Lawson, Wayne Ellington and Danny Green all decided to come back to North Carolina next season. While Ellington and Green aren't total surprises, there was a point that it felt both would actually leave. Lawson returning is a huge surprise since (a) he didn't seem like he really wanted to come back, (b) the arrest in Chapel Hill would mean consequences from Williams and (c) his stock actually seemed to rise into easy first round status.

This is a huge get for Williams and Tar Heel fans. The only two non-returning players (that mattered) from a 36-3 Final Four team are Quentin Thomas (graduation) and Alex Stepheson (transfer) -- both reserves.

The starting lineup will probably stay the exact same: Lawson, Ellington, Hansbrough, Marcus Ginyard and Deon Thompson. The bench will consist of Green (one of the best sixth men in the nation), Bobby Frasor (injured last year, a smart, steady player with a defensive presence), freshman Ed Davis (who will fill the defensive/rebounder role that Stepheson left), William Graves (long range shooter), freshman Tyler Zeller (a 7-foot guy who loves to run) and freshman Larry Drew (solid PG that won't be relied on too much).

"They are all going back to school," one source said. "None of them were 100 percent sure they would be taken in the first round."

It would seem as if the only drama going on at the NBA's pre-draft camp is the status of the three North Carolina Tar Heels that declared for the draft.

Heels fans have been vocal about wanting these guys back and how they aren't ready for The League. It seems that UNC guard Ty Lawson is kind of coming to this conclusion, as well:

North Carolina guard Ty Lawson said Wednesday if he's not confident he'll go 20th or better in the NBA draft, he'll pull out of the process and return to North Carolina for his junior season.

He said his challenge this week at the NBA pre-draft camp is convincing teams his left ankle is healed and showing he'll take -- and make -- jump shots when the opportunity is there.

This goes against Lawson's statement that he doesn't like the "test the waters" phrase since it implies that he's not seriously ready to go to the NBA. However, it is the first nugget of information that Carolina fans have been wanting to hear.

The other is this: guard Wayne Ellington really struggled in his first pre-draft game on Wednesday. He hit just one of his five shots from behind the arc (remember, the NBA arc) and committed six turnovers.

If you are a North Carolina fan, you are hoping that the three Heels who declared for the NBA Draft (Ty Lawson, Wayne Ellington and Danny Green) all come back to school and create one of the most loaded college teams we've seen in a while.

The fact that they are "testing the waters" -- meaning they didn't hire an agent to preserve their college eligibility -- feeds into that hope.

However, don't tell that to those guys:

"But that's not the truth," he said Tuesday. "Everybody is in the draft to stay in the draft unless [they get hurt]. Comments like that are misleading to NBA teams, to say we're just testing the waters."

{ ... }

"Guys don't enter the draft unless they want to be in the draft," Ellington said. "I'm trying to raise my stock a bit and solidify a first-round position."

The North Carolina Tar Heels are having quite the off-season. Sure, Player of the Year Tyler Hansbrough is coming back ... but no one knows what he's coming back too. Ty Lawson, Wayne Ellington and Danny Green have all declared for the NBA Draft (they all have the option of coming back to school by the June 16th deadline).

Now comes word that forward Alex Stepheson is leaving school and will transfer somewhere closer to home.

"My family is dealing with some health challenges at this time and as a result I have made the decision to transfer to be closer to home," Stepheson said in a statement released by the school.

"I am extremely, extremely disappointed but I feel so great about Alex that I understand his decision to transfer," UNC Roy Williams said in the release. "... He is a wonderful kid. I thoroughly enjoyed coaching him and know that he would have contributed so much more in the next two years. Nevertheless, I have tremendous respect for Alex and know that he will always be part of our Carolina Basketball family. I'll miss him, but he will always be important to me."

Home, for Stepheson, is the Los Angeles area. Stepheson was UNC's top reserve big man last season and brought much needed toughness on the floor. He turned into one of the team's premiere shotblockers and rebounders.

The fact that Stepheson is transferring is par for the course of UNC's elite 2006 recruiting class. Brandan Wright turned pro after his freshman season; Lawson and Ellington have declared for the draft; and now Stepheson is transferring. The only players left from that class are Deon Thompson and Will Graves.

"Danny and his father contacted me in the last 24 hours and indicated they wished to test the waters and enter Danny in the draft,'' UNC coach Roy Williams said in a prepared statement. "We have done the necessary paperwork to do that."

The announcement came as a surprise - Wednesday night, Williams told the News & Observer that Green had not been part of the coach's process of contacting teams to determine where the players might be drafted.

A surprise, indeed. There aren't really any draft sites that think he's a first round draft pick -- if they have him getting drafted at all. He, like Ty Lawon and Wayne Ellington (who are also entering the NBA draft), will not hire an agent in order to preserve his amatuer status and possibly return to school.

Meanwhile, the reigning player of the year Tyler Hansbrough has already said he's returning to school.

"I love playing at North Carolina and still have big dreams to realize here, including graduating," Hansbrough said in a prepared statement. "Of course I look forward to playing in the NBA some day but not next year. I love my collegiate experience and want to finish my four years here, then move on to my next dream of playing in the NBA. I am very relieved that this decision is behind us and I can concentrate on my academic work and improving my game for next season."

To be honest, I really thought he'd declare for the draft and not hire an agent (enabling him to return to school). He's a junior, so he could've used his one time testing-the-waters pass this spring just to gauge how NBA-ready he is.

The last Wooden Award winner to return to school the next season was Ralph Sampson in 1982. Sampson won the award again in 1983.

Now, Ty Lawson and Wayne Ellington will be testing the waters by declaring for the draft and not hiring an agent. DraftExpress.com has Lawson as the #30 pick (the final pick of the first round). Ellington is the 40th pick which means a lack of a guaranteed contract.

There will (most likely) be no coaching changes in the ACC this year. There really aren't many of those "one-and-done" guys that other conferences will see leave. So what are the major themes of the ACC's offseason?

-Olympic Games: I must admit that I was surprised that Mike Krzyzewski had his Duke team blazing out of the gate this season. I honestly felt that his Olympic responsibilities would have some sort of effect on the Blue Devils to start this season. Instead, they shot out of the gate and were the #2-ranked team as late as February.

But this July and August will see K's commitment to the Olympic squad hit the highest level. After finishing a pretty good season at Duke and looking towards bigger things in '09, he must go to Beijing and deal with a volatile and thankless job.

If Team USA comes back with the gold, everyone will just say it was because there were better players this time around and the program was more focused. If they don't win it all -- God, help them.

-UNC's Main Men: The Tar Heels were a horrible 12 minutes from getting to the National Championship game this year. If everyone comes back, they could be the favorite to bring home the title.