Ballin' is a Habit

NBA DRAFT NEWS AND NOTES: Tomorrow is the deadline to declare for the NBA Draft early. In the last couple of days, we have seen a number of players make their intentions known (for a full list of the NBA Drafy Early Entries, click here):

• Iowa State sophomore Craig Brackins will be returning to Ames for his junior season. I'll be honest - this is a bit of a surprise to me. Brackins averaged 20.2 ppg and 9.5 rpg for the Cyclones this past season, and he was projected by many to be in the later first round, especially with the number of players that have returned to school.
  
• Both Manny Harris and Deshawn Sims will be headed back to Michigan for another season under John Beilein. Good news for Beilein, as Michigan looks like they will be competing for a Big Ten title next year.
• UConn freshman Ater Majok, who has yet to play a second for the Huskies, has declared for the draft but has not yet hired an agent (that is, unless the rumors that he has signed with UConn manager/Nate Miles handler Josh Nochimson are false). If Majok does return, there is a chance that he will face repercussions for any contact he had with Nochimson (apparently, the former UConn manager hooked up Majok with a trip to an all-star game in Louisville). Let's say Majok does, in fact, leave school. That means that neither Miles nor Majok, the two guys that have the NCAA investigating the Huskie's recruiting practices, will have played a second in Storrs. And neither was due to the shady recruiting (Miles violated a restraining order, and Majok was not eligible to play). Majok was expected to be a big time contributor up front for the Huskies, who lose basically their entire front line with Adrien graduating and Thabeet going pro.
• Not NBA Draft news, but Calipari landed another ex-Memphis signee as Darnell Dodson, a JuCo transfer with three years of eligibility left, has signed with UK.