NBA Draft: Early Entry deadline winners and losers

The NBA Draft's early entry withdrawal deadline came and went on Saturday night. Who were the biggest winners and losers?


WINNERS:

Purdue: JaJuan Johnson and E'Twaun Moore both made the decision to return to school for their senior seasons with the Boilermakers. With Robbie Hummel all but being forced to return due to the torn acl he suffered late in the season, Matt Painter's club should be right up there with Duke and Michigan State in most preseason polls. Losing Keaton Grant and Chris Kramer is going to hurt, but with guys like Kelsey Barlow and Lewis Jackson coming back, Sandi Marcius finally getting healthy, and a solid recruiting class coming in, the Boilermakers should be playing well into March next season.

Illinois: The Illini also got great news over the weekend as both Demetri McCamey and Mike Davis opted to return to school. Illinois is going to be a very good team next season. They only lose one player significance -- Dominique Keller -- while bringing in a second straight loaded recruiting class. There are still going to be some issues in regards to size on the interior -- the only problem with returning your entire team is that you return the same problems you had as a team the year before; in other words, Illinois still has too many jump shooting bigs -- but with a year of seasoning for Brandon Paul and DJ Richardson, Illinois is going to have one of the most dangerous backcourts in the country.

The Big Ten as a whole: We've mentioned Illinios and Purdue, but they aren't the only schools that had some luck in that conference. Kalin Lucas and Durrell Summers are both returning to Michigan State; William Buford opted to come back for his junior season with Ohio State; Talor Battle will be returning to Penn State; Wisconsin, Minnesota, and Northwestern didn't have anyone declare. The Big Televen is going to be loaded next season.

Virginia Tech: The Hokies got a great piece of news last week when Malcolm Delaney made the decision to return to school. Delaney was in the conversation as ACC POY this season, and with the Hokies returning essentially everyone from a team that won 23 games last season, its feasible to see Va Tech as the favorite to finish second behind Duke next season.

Seton Hall: The good news for new Pirate coach Kevin Willard is that all three early entrants -- Jeremy Hazell, Jeff Robinson, and Herb Pope -- will all be returning to school. They are all talented players, and it makes Seton Hall, on paper, look like an NCAA Tournament team. In reality, its less picture perfect. All three players are borderline certifiable, and after collapsing during a workout this spring, its unclear whether Pope will actually be allowed to play. Willard will have his work cut out for him getting this talent to lay together.

NC State: While he was never really contemplating leaving school, NC State's Tracy Smith still did declare for the draft. His decision to return coupled with CJ Leslie's surprising decision to stay in Raleigh makes the Wolfpack look like a team that will compete for a spot in the tournament next season.


LOSERS

Kentucky: They lost five players to early entry, as Daniel Orton and Eric Bledsoe both signed with agents over the weekend. But can they really be losers if everyone expected it?

Ole Miss: Murphy Holloway transferred and Eniel Polynice decided to pursue a professional career instead of attend graduate school. But the big blow for the Rebels was the decision of Terrico White to remain in the draft. A borderline first rounder, White probably could have boosted his stock into the lottery with a big junior year. Instead, Andy Kennedy is left with Chris Warren and not much else on a team that looks to be once again destined for the NIT.

The SEC as a whole: A lot of puzzling decisions here in addition to what we mentioned above. Courtney Fortson leaves Arkansas; AJ Ogilvy leaves Vanderbilt; Dee Bost leaves Mississippi State. None of those guys are first rounders.

Butler: Gordon Hayward stayed in the draft, and while is was probably the correct decision for Hayward to make, it really does suck for the rest of us. How cool would it be to see a player from the Horizon league be one of the player of the year favorites? How much fun would it be to follow Butler this season as they chase their second straight final four? Hell, this team would have had the talent to compete for a national title (again).

Louisville: Look, I support Samardo Samuels decision to try and support his family. Rick Pitino does too. But that doesn't mean that the Cardinals didn't need Samuels next season. I'm not sure that Pitino's career in Louisville has all that much time left. He is losing out on recruits (Marquis Teague, Michael Chandler), his program does not appear able to compete with in-state rival Kentucky, and without Samuels anchoring this team in the post, I don't think it is out of the question to think that Louisville could miss the tournament this season.

Xavier: If Jordan Crawford had returned, Xavier would have likely been a top 15 team and one of the favorites in a top heavy Atlantic 10. Instead, the fringe first rounder decided to remain in the NBA Draft. To be fair, its not necessarily a terrible decision by Crawford. I doubt his stock will ever be higher than it is after the tournament he had.

Oklahoma: Oklahoma lost Tiny Gallon, Willie Warren, and Tommy Mason Griffin to the NBA Draft, but it may all be a blessing in disguise. Each of those guys had issues, and the Sooners never really gelled as a team last season. Sometimes it is better to clean house and start over again.