NCAAB Thoughts

With the tournament "approaching", I started thinking about possible draft implications for the next NBA season. There's quite a buzz around the top tier freshmen from the class of '07. I agree that this is the year in which the talent maybe match that '03 draft, or going on potential, it may be even stronger. Let's not forget about the older guys though. Dynamic youngsters like Derrick Rose, OJ Mayo and Kevin Love are somehow overshadowing the guys who are going are also going to be in the '08 draft and are potential All-Americans when this college season is said and done. Guys like Darren Collison, Roy Hibbert and Chris Lofton (who's having a down season I admit) are probably going to be dropped in the upcoming draft lower than when they might normally be drafted because these younger guys have more "potential" and are the flashier pick. More than likely though, UCLA and Memphis will be very close to the final weekend in the tournament, but it won't be because of Derrick Rose and Kevin Love, although both players are incredibly dynamic and have shown that they make their teammates better and their teams great, it will be more due to the experienced play of Chris Douglas-Roberts and Joey Dorsey, or the leadership of upperclassmen Josh Shipp and Darren Collison. Don't get me wrong, I was one of the more excited guys coming into the college season to see the talents of Michael Beasley and Eric Gordon, but I just want to give recognition where its due. The guys we've watched for the past couple of seasons are still there and playing strong basketball. Here's my bias working... How could I write about college basketball and not mention UNC? Well, here's my bold prediction of the year. This team has an opportunity to win two national titles in a row. I know it sounds ridiculous to predict something like this, considering Florida just finished a repeat and the depth of college basketball today, but considering the amount of talent Carolina possesses and the projected depth in the '08 draft, I believe UNC will retain its 3 top talents for another season, Tyler Hansbrough (a project 4 year player in college since he arrived at Chapel Hill), Ty Lawson and Wayne Ellington (both of whom are amazing talents, but are sophomores in a year of freshman and are arguably undersized at their positions for the next level). All three will continue to mature together and as the #1 team in the country already, they would only get better with another season under Roy Williams, who is also one of the best coaches in the country. After these three guys, they still have a ridiculously deep roster, of which no contributing players are seniors. If UNC does happen to win the title this season and Hansbrough wins the Naismith player of the year, which he's got to be the front-runner for at this point in the season, I can't possibly imagine Tyler leaving on a higher note from college and couldn't see him returning even though he'd still only be a borderline lottery pick. I don't know if they could replace a piece as big as he's been to the program, but there's no doubt UNC is in good shape. With all this said, there's still about half of the 2007-08 season left and I'm sure March Madness will be as exciting as its ever been. Is there a better month for sports than March? You get great playoff basketball (college football could learn a thing or two from this), the rumblings of the NFL draft and the start to the MLB season, which needs to do something about steroids because Congress doesn't really "eff" around, for lack of a better term, but that's a different story.