College, NBA Draft / Apr 8, 2010 / 4:39 pm

NBA Draft Update: John Wall going pro, UConn gets a No. 1 pick

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Kentucky's John Wall

Now that we know what’s up with Kentucky’s pro prospects, expect the 2010 high school recruiting class to come into focus. With the announcement that five Wildcats — freshmen John Wall, DeMarcus Cousins, Daniel Orton and Eric Bledsoe, plus junior Patrick Patterson — have declared for this year’s NBA Draft, high-profile undecided high schoolers like Brandon Knight, C.J. Leslie, Josh Selby and others now know what they’re going into should they sign with Kentucky. The rest of the undecided chips will fall accordingly.

Cousins and Patterson are two big men projected to go in the Lottery (although there is some controversy over whether Patterson has officially decided to go pro), while the less-featured point guard Bledsoe and center Orton will have to show in workouts that they are worthy of first-round picks. Wall is of course projected to be the No. 1 overall pick, a point guard with Derrick Rose-like ability. His biggest challenger for that top spot is Ohio State’s Evan Turner, who also declared for the Draft this week. The junior Turner is the reigning national P.O.Y. and a 6-6 Brandon Roy clone.

Also declaring over the past couple of days: Oklahoma sophomore guard Willie Warren, Texas freshman guard Avery Bradley and Kansas freshman guard Xavier Henry. There are also reports that UAB junior wing Elijah Millsap (brother of Paul Millsap) and Vanderbilt junior center A.J. Ogilvy are going to go pro.

* In today’s WNBA Draft, UConn center Tina Charles went No. 1 overall to the Connecticut Sun (funny how that always seems to work out in the W). Virginia’s Monica Wright went No. 2 to Minnesota, followed by Nebraska’s Kelsey Griffin (Minnesota), Rutgers’ Epiphanny Price (Chicago), and Stanford’s Jayne Appel (San Antonio) to round out the top five.

* I just watched Alysa Clark (Middle Tennessee State) get picked 17th by San Antonio. Clark led the country in scoring two years in a row, dropping 28 ppg this season. Clark’s boyfriend is Warriors’ PF Brandan Wright. One NBA TV announcer called him, “a great NBA player.” OK …

* Did you know Nolan Richardson is the new coach of the Tulsa Shock (former the Detroit Shock)? This is the same team that also signed Marion Jones. If this were 1994, they’d be a lock for the championship.

-Follow Austin on Twitter at @AustinBurton206
-Follow Dime on Twitter at @DIMEMag

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  • Spliff 2 My Lou

    Ha ha Brandan Wright as a great player. It’s like when gossip columns refer to Kendra’s man as star NFL wide receiver Hank Baskett. The closest he’s ever been to a star is getting hit by Dallas Cowboys helmets.

  • hooper5013

    Evan Turner plays nothing like Brandon Roy…he’s slow as fuck, he’s a mediocre athlete with a knack for getting to the basket. He’s a little overrated. He was a helluva collge player nevertheless. I wouldn’t touch him in the top 5. He plays like a post injury Ron Harper. He’ll be solid in the league, porssibly a few all-star games. But kill that Brandon Roy clone shit. B. Roy has a 40inch vertical and he’s hella explosive. He just plays smart and utilizes his craftiness to get buckets more so than his athleticism.

  • M Intellect

    Who stopped reading after ‘WNBA’ as well?

  • K Dizzle

    Post #2 is the EXACT REASON why GMs fuck up and Brandon Roy fell to number 7 in the draft.
    Turner plays exactly like Roy. They both got the sneaky athleticism (dunk on you when necessary), they can run the point. Solid midrange game. Can defend, pass, dribble. Matter fact, if u got someone Turner plays like more than B-Roy, then post it and stop embarrassin urself with shit like “I wouldn’t touch him in the top 5″
    Seriously, go watch an Ohio State game then repost. Hopefully, dime can delete ur original post……….damn

  • BRUCE

    DeMarcus Cousins — The Man-Child is going to be a bust. Dude doesn’t even play hard at all! Younger version of Jerome James!

  • http://www.getbuckets.anywhere.com Chicagorilla

    LMAO@KDizzle,

    maybe post#2 just hates Ohio State.

    Also, @DIME, yes connected got the #1 pick this year, but i’m sure they would trade it in a heartbeat to have the #1 pick next year instead with Mya Moore coming out.

    And, when Candace Parker came out, the LA Sparks somehooooowww lost a ton of games, just enought o push them to #1 over the Chicago Sky… and the WNBA was dumb enough to let that happen, letting Candace go 3000 miles west instead of playing in her back yard with the Sky…the team they built FOR her! stupid.

  • white mamba

    you and your dumbf&#*k pseudo profundities do more to exploit and perpetuate stereotypes and racist thinking than the subject you are trying to talk about. man, enough with this guy. you are as deep as a puddle in a parking lot.

  • Raj S

    It’s Stanford, not Standford…

    Evan Turner is almost EXACTLY like Brandon Roy. Their heights, weights, and games are so damn similar.

    On the other hand, John Wall is not similar to Derrick Rose except for the fact that their upsides were obvious and their jumpshots needed works. They both fit into the Calipari system because they were both very good, but they were very good in very different ways.

  • Raj S

    Dammit. I meant work, not works.

  • http://dimemag.com Austin Burton

    @Chicagorilla — I see what you mean, but I’d imagine the WNBA would want Candace in L.A. more than Chicago, knowing that Lisa Leslie was near the end of her career and they needed a big star in L.A. It made sense for L.A. to stink that year, too, since I think that was when Leslie was out pregnant. And what’s up with Cappie Pondexter getting traded to New York? I saw that today and the first thing I thought was that it was a move orchestrated by the League to get a star in NYC.

  • JAY

    #2 Please remove “hooper” from your name. You obviously know nothing about basketball. For you to say “Turner plays nothing like Roy” is retarded… no offense to retards. Did you even watch Roy at Washington?? Their games are pretty much identical. Both are crafty, both have a high IQ, both are unselfish, good vision, create their own shots, get into the lane, can defend their own position… what is SOOOO different that makes you say they play NOTHING alike. Their athleticism?? To refresh your memory, Roy’s athleticism was questioned until the workouts. You don’t even know Turner’s measured vertical so your whole post should have a big “VOID” stamp on it.

  • ay yo.

    Turner is a lot like Roy, you can even throw some Reke in there too. These guys don’t need to play over the Rim all the time, but can. Deception is their game.

    I think Turner will be fine in the league, but I do have questions if he can be effective without dominating the ball.

    As much as it’s a gift that he’s able to do “everything” (E. Turner), it can be a curse bc guys like this, have to dominate the ball.

  • NAH

    BRUCE,
    Cousins a bust? I doubt that. He was clearly the most dominant big man in college basketball by the season’s end. He improved a lot over the course of the year. Players do not experience notable improvement when “dude doesn’t even play hard”. Is that why everyone who gets paid real life dollars to talk basketball has him going top 5?

  • Dre

    Evan Turner is much more Tyreke Evans then B. Roy.

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