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.

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Facebooking is dangerous

SHAWN TAGGART IS STILL UNDECIDED: Over the weekend, Memphis fans got a huge scare from (where else) Facebook, as Shawn Taggart updated his status to say the following (h/t Jeff Goodman):

Willie,p,spoon,dmack,r.dot,white chocolate,and angle......... love yal (expletive) no (expletive) but...... its ova wit...... yal hold it down.

And Derrick Rose couldn't get into Memphis?

Apparently, it was all a hoax.

"I just did that to see how much they like me in Memphis," Taggart told Goodman, "I was just messing with people. I still haven’t made a decision yet."

Taggart also told Goodman that he would be staying in the draft if he will go in the middle of the second round. Given how difficult it is to predict where a player will go outside of the lottery, it is almost a guarantee that Taggart will be "projected" as a mid second rounder. Taggart is 24 years old, and given the controversy currently surrounding the Memphis program and this summer's media circus, I think it is unlikely that Taggart will play for Josh Pastner.


COACH CAL'S DAUGHTER DOESN'T LIKE PAT FORDE: John Calipari has not been quiet with his distaste for ESPN.com's Pat Forde. You see, Forde has been the WWL's go-to guy covering the whole Memphis-Derrick Rose-SAT scandal (his latest column can be found here).

So how did Cal decide to voice his displeasure? Via twitter, of course.

Forde continued to cover the investigation, and it is safe to say Erin Calipari was none too pleased with his work. Check out her recent Facebook statuses (status's? stati?):

(photo credit: Deadspin)

Megan Calipari, Erin's younger sister, had her own Facebook encounter, as she was the one to break the news that Memphis had hired Pastner. Calipari later apologized.

Via Twitter.

Is this really the world that I live in?

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