Hansbrough Gets A Little Help From His Friends
June 17, 2008 by Lyndsey D'Arcangelo
Filed under Sports Rumors
This is a juicy bit of sports news. And since college basketball is my first love, I had to comment on it.
It wasn’t all that shocking 
when Tyler Hansbrough decided to return to North Carolina for his senior season. He’s one of those well-rounded athletes and I think having a college degree is important to him. I also think that getting one more crack at an NCAA title is just as important to him. (Maybe even more so.) Returning to play college ball won’t hurt his NBA stock in the least and when he finally comes out for the draft in 2009, he’ll be a top-ten draft pick for sure. If he’s able to take North Carolina to the NCAA championship and win, well he might even go number one.
And this is all the more possible now that he has a little help from his friends:
Lawson, Ellington, Green withdraw from draft to return to UNC
ESPN.com ~ North Carolina sophomores Ty Lawson and Wayne Ellington and junior Danny Green withdrew from the NBA draft Monday.
Head coach Roy Williams confirmed that the trio would return to school. The deadline to withdraw was 5 p.m. ET.
Ellington and Green were unable to secure a first-round draft pick guarantee. Their return, coupled with player of the year Tyler Hansbrough’s return, makes UNC the prohibitive favorite to win the 2009 national title.
Ellington, Green and Lawson all participated in the Orlando pre-draft camp last month. Read More
Now with Ellington, Green, Lawson AND Hansbrough back in the line-up, it’s easy to speculate that UNC will start the 2008-2009 season ranked number one.
I personally think this was a smart move for all four players. So many underclassmen make the jump to the NBA draft before they are ready. This will give them another year to hone their skills and grow, to get more education, and to get another stab at an NCAA championship title.
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“Returning to play college ball won’t hurt his NBA stock in the least”
Although there is a (small) chance that he could suffer a career-ending injury.
“Now with Ellington, Green, Lawson AND Hansbrough back in the line-up, it’s easy to speculate that UNC will start the 2008-2009 season ranked number one.”
Especially considering that they were able to recruit one of the best classes of freshmen.
Thanks for the dig…
I was really surprised all came back, that’s unusual when 3 guys make good decisions like that!