Shawn Taggart to stay in the draft; Nic Wise heading back to Arizona

Last week, Shawn Taggart posted a facebook status that seemed to indicate he was going to keep his name in the NBA Draft.

Once that message hit the blogs and the message boards, Taggart clarified the situation with Jeff Goodman, saying that he was going to stay in the draft only if he was going to go by the middle of the second round.

I guess Taggart got his guarantee.

"I think it's my time to go," the 24 year old forward, who played his freshman season at Iowa State, told FoxSports. "You never know what can happen during a season where I'm going to have to carry the load. We've done a lot at Memphis I feel as though I'm opening a lot of eyes of people who didn't think I could do anthing but dunk. Plus, I've got to provide for my family."

While Taggart is unlikely to be taken in the first round, he is 24 years old. Even if Taggart doesn't end up getting drafted, he seems like one of those guys who is simply done attending college.


We also mentioned in Friday's Morning Dump that Nic Wise was reconsidering his decision to leave Arizona. Originally, it was assumed that with the coaching change and the players leaving Arizona, Wise was going to stay in the draft. If he didn't make an NBA roster, he was planning on heading to Europe.

It seems that is no longer the case, as Wise will be heading back to Arizona.

"We went from thinking the team wasn’t going to be good and not knowing the coach to now realizing that they have a chance to be really good and have a great coach," Greg Wise, Nic’s father, told FOXSports.com. "We also got positive feedback from NBA teams that if he works hard, he’s got a chance to put himself in good position next year."

In reality, Wise has a chance to become the Pac-10 player of the year with the number of players entering the NBA ranks, either through graduation or early entry to the draft.