A look at some of the surprising names on the early entry list

Its always good for a laugh when the NBA officially announces the list of early entrants into the NBA Draft. This year was no different.

Among the head scratchers were four players currently (or recently) suspended from their schools (Keion Bell, Desmond Holloway, Willie Reed, and Antoine Watson), two Junior College players (Tiondre Johnson and Roscoe Davis), two members of D-III teams (Dan Kelm, Thomas Tibbs, Jr), and a player at an NAIA school (Jacob Blankenship).

Some familiar names popped up as well. TyShawn Edmundson, a 6'4" from Austin Peay and formerly of St. John's, put his name into the mix after averaging 17.1 ppg this past season. Chaminade's seven foot center Mamadou Diarra, who transferred to the Maui Invitational's host school from USC, declared as well. He made some noise when he had 16 points, 11 boards, and five blocks against Michigan State this year. And Ryan Kelley finally resurfaced two years after leaving Colorado after one season riding the pine.

Also, as you might expect, there were a number of juniors from low-majors around the country that declared to get a feel for what they need to work on to make it at the next level. Yale's 6'10" center Greg Mangano declared after averaging 16.6 ppg, 10.0 rpg, and shooting 36.6% from three. Darrion Pellum put his name in the mix after averaging 17.5 ppg for Hampton while JP Primm of UNC-Asheville declared following his 14.5 ppg, 4.0 apg, and 2.1 spg season. Charlie Westbrook of South Dakota and Brandon Wood of Valpo had already made their intentions known.

Most surprising? Keishawn Mayes of Campbell. He averaged 3.5 ppg in just 10.0 mpg for the Camels last season.

Beyond that, there weren't too many surprises on the official list. Most of the names had already leaked out. But here are four players that you will want to keep an eye on over the next two weeks:

• Jeremy Green, Jr, Stanford: Green has been a big-time scorer for the Cardinal the past two seasons, averaging over 16 ppg both years. The Cardinal had a very young team this past season, but still managed to win seven games in the Pac-10. There is a promising core, and the Cardinal would be a sleeper in a wide-open Pac-10 should they get Green back. A possible hiccup? Green was hit with an academic suspension by the school for the spring quarter. It doesn't affect his NCAA eligibility, but he was expected to be back at Stanford for summer school.

• David Loubeau, Jr, Texas A&M: Loubeau is, perhaps, the most important player on this list. With the likes of Khris Middleton, Naji Hibbert, and Dash Harris coming back next season, the Aggies have a shot at finishing near the top of the Big 12 once again in 2012. That is with Loubeau, who was Mark Turgeon's best interior scorer last year.


• Cameron Moore, Jr, UAB: At times this past season, Moore was a dominating force for the Blazers. The 6'10" forward finished the season with averages of 14.0 ppg, 9.3 rpg, and 1.5 bpg while shooting 33.3% from three. Those numbers are in spite of a foot injury that kept Moore out of the lineup for three games and severely limited his production down the stretch of the season. With Jamarr Sanders and Aaron Johnson graduating, UAB was going to be leaning on Moore heavily next season. The Blazers will have a tough season is he decides to remain in the draft.

• Tony Taylor, Jr, George Washington: Taylor was the most important piece to a surprising GW team this season. He averaged just under 15 points and five assists while doubling as one of the Colonials' best on-ball defenders. GW was picked to finished near the bottom of the conference, and after rebounding from a slow start to the year, the Colonials ended up tied for fourth in the league standings and earning the fifth seed in the A-10 tournament, their highest finish since 2006. The team will have to deal with a coaching change as Karl Hobbs was fired this week, but with the majority of their roster coming back and the return of Lasan Kromah from a season-ending foot injury, the Colonials have a shot to be very good in 2012. If Taylor returns.