Georgetown won't be a top five team, but Michigan State should be

Earlier this week, we took a look at the three biggest names that we were still waiting to hear from in regards to the NBA Draft.

Today, we got an answer from one of those three.

Georgetown's sophomore center Greg Monroe has declared for the NBA Draft. He will be signing with an agent, eliminating any possibility that he could return to DC for his junior year. After the Hoyas were upset by Ohio in the first round of the NCAA Tournament, Monroe said that he would be returning to school for his junior season.

Greg Monroe will be in the NBA next season.
(photo credit: iSportsWeb)

Monroe is making the right decision. As much as I hate seeing talent from the college ranks leave with eligibility remaining, the goal is to make a career out of playing basketball. Monroe has a chance to make a life-changing amount of money -- and with the impending lockout, the same may not be true if he stayed for his junior season -- and he should capitalize on that opportunity.

If Monroe had stayed, Georgetown would have been the favorite to win the Big East and likely a consensus top five team in 2011. Without Monroe, the Hoyas are probably going to hang around the top 25. They bring back one of the best back courts in the country with Chris Wright, Austin Freeman, Jason Clark, and Hollis Thompson. Julian Vaughn is a solid post player, and is one of Henry Sims, Moses Abraham, or Nate Lubick can become a solid contributor, the Hoyas have a team that could possibly be able to compete for a Big East title.

While today brought bad news for Hoya fans, it brought fantastic news for basketball fans in East Lansing.

Both Kalin Lucas, the 2009 Big Ten player of the year, and Durrell Summers, the 2010 Midwest Region MOP, decided to forego the NBA Draft and return to school for their senior seasons.

With those two back in school, the only player that Tom Izzo loses from a team that has made back to back Final Fours is Raymar Morgan, adding two top 50 recruits -- guard Keith Appling and big man Adreian Payne -- to the mix. Michigan State should be a top five team in the preseason, and depending on what happens with the players from Purdue and Illinois with their names currently in the draft, they should be considered the favorite in the Big Ten as well.

Will Lucas and Summers lead Sparty to third straight Final Four?
(photo credit: NYDN)

It will be interesting to see what happens with Lucas and Summers. Lucas may have snuck into the back of the first round if he had left school after his sophomore season, but decided to return to school. This year, Lucas really had no choice but to return. There are quite a few players clustered in the 20-45 range, and with Lucas' injury (torn achilles), he would be unable to improve his standing with workouts, even in a draft short on point guards. Lucas is not the kind of player that is going to be a lottery pick -- his size limits hit NBA potential -- but earning a guaranteed contract isn't out of the question.

Summers is a different story. He has a ton of talent -- he can score in bunches, he is an NBA athlete, and he can knock down shots from the perimeter. Summers has the potential to be an all-american next season. The issue is whether he will ever live up to that potential.

If he does, don't be surprised to see Sparty in a third straight Final Four.