Stephen Curry took his time making his decision. On Thursday, he revealed that he will be leaving Davidson to make the leap into the NBA.

While at Davidson, Curry was one of the most exciting players in the nation to watch. The son of former NBA player Dell Curry, the Davidson junior averaged 28.6 points, 5.6 assists and 4.4 rebounds per game, while shooting 45.4% from the field, 38.7% from beyond the three-point arc and 87.6% at the free throw line.

Stephen Curry, 2009 NBA Draft (Image: Newscom)

Listed at 6-foot-3 and 185 pounds, Curry is projected to play point guard on the NBA level. While he’s not a natural playmaker, his scoring and shooting abilities aren’t in question. Just like his father, Curry has an amazing shooting touch that he can release with lightning quickness.

Most 2009 NBA mock drafts have Curry going in the first half of the first round. There’s also some speculation that Curry could ultimately be a top-five pick in the draft.

Many young and talented ballers cannot wait to get to the NBA. They look at  their college career as a stepping stone to something bigger and better, and nothing else. The degree doesn’t much matter, since they will be raking in the dough at the professional level anyway.

Those individuals that decide to stay in college for all four years are few and far between.

Tyler Hansbrough stayed at UNC and amassed numerous national accolades as well a national championship. Add a college degree to the mix and I’d say that he made a smart decision.

Stephen Curry is now wrestling with the same decision. According to SI.com, the main thing holding him back from hiring an agent is the college degree.

Stephen Curry has until Sunday to declare for the 2009 NBA draft.

Knowing that Curry is a well-rounded kid and that the hype and attention he has garnered since Davidson’s 2008 NCAA Tournament run hasn’t gone to his head, I’m not the lease bit surprised that he has yet to make a decision about his basketball future. I could see him returning to Davidson for his senior year. And I would respect him for it.

Photo provided by Newscom

Now that Davidson’s season is over (they were eliminated from the NIT on Monday night), Stephen Curry has a big decision to make. Will he enter the NBA draft and take his career to the next level? Or will he return to Davidson for his senior year?

Most college basketball (myself included) fans would love to see him back at Davidson. I think there’s something to be said for those players who finish what they started, get their degree, develop as a player and then make the leap. Curry’s draft stock wouldn’t drop if he returned to school. But if he feels as though he has done all he can do at the college basketball level, he’ll most likely make the jump.

Stephen isn’t the only Curry with a big decision on his plate. His brother, Seth (who is just as gifted in his own right) is leaving Liberty after only one year. Seth was quote by SI.com saying he would like to “take advantage of new opportunities that may be available to him in a higher-rated conference.”

What school wouldn’t be interested in picking him up? Seth was the nation’s leading freshman scorer, averaging 20.2 points.

I’d love it if both of them united at Davidson for Stephen’s last hurrah. But maybe that’s just wishful thinking.

Photos provided by Newscom

Mr. Whitlock is a widely respected columnist for the Kansas City Star. He has won some cool journalism awards and stuff blah blah he is a pretty good writer yada yada yada.

Whitlock wrote an article for ‘FoxSports on MSN’ yesterday.

“NCAA Truths” he calls it.

I call it a bunch of mumbo jumbo. Ok, only some of it.

Whitlock’s words in bold

The Gonzaga Bulldogs are not my sleeper team. They’re my pick to win the whole thing.
Jason is trying to drum up some discussion and controversy on his article, no person (unless they’re a Zags fan) in their right mind thinks Gonzaga has a shot to win it all. That said, I also think Gonzaga can win it all, and I’m not a Zags fan.

If you’re looking for a tournament fraud, take a gander at the 27-4 Oklahoma Sooners. Oklahoma does not have an offense. The Sooners do nothing to free Griffin in the low post. He gets his points off talent and nothing else. Capel’s offense does not require Warren to move without the basketball.
Actually, I agree with this, plus, another thing that Whitlock did not mention, the Sooners have the depth of a kiddie pool with a hole in it. They might win two games.

Michigan State is the other top-10 poser. I don’t care what the RPI says, the Big 10 is the worst major conference this year. I’ve had the pleasure of watching many Big 10 hoops games this year. It’s all unskilled labor in that league. Michigan State is the perfect poster child to represent the Big 10. The Spartans can’t shoot. They don’t have enough ball-handlers and passers to run a consistent and effective offense. They’re brutal to watch. Thank a higher power that they won’t be around long.
Whitlock must have only watched MSU once this season (UNC game at Ford Field) to come up with an explanation like that. Travis Walton and Kalin Lucas are pretty good point guards. Goran Suton is one of the best big man passers out there. I can’t believe I’m saying this, but the Big Ten is overrated. Ha, eight overrated Big Ten teams will make the Big Dance. Riiiiight.

Stephen Curry, Davidson and Sonya Curry belong in the NCAA Tournament. Look, sex sells, and the NCAA Tournament is a television event put on to draw viewers. Sonya Curry makes me want to watch Davidson hoops. The woman is fine. She looks like Halle Berry’s big sister.
Interesting.

Doug Gottlieb is the best guy calling college basketball today.
And Rush Limbaugh is a liberal.

The women’s 64-team field is an absolute joke and embarrassment. There are only 15 to 20 good programs, and less than half of those have a chance to win the national title.
Tell me about it.

Dwyane Wade’s strip and seal against the Bulls Tuesday night is one of the greatest regular-season moments in NBA history.
Whitlock wandering off topic again.

I like the Kansas Jayhawks a lot on the nights when Sherron Collins lets the game come to him offensively. They’ll lose in the first round if Collins gets out of control.
Let the game come to him offensively? Sherron Collins is the offense over there in Lawrence. Kansas will be lucky to make it out of the first weekend alive.

Just 24 hours after No. 2 Connecticut lost to No. 8 Georgetown, another top 5 undefeated team went down in flames.

Oklahoma was never even in this one as it lost to unranked Arkansas 98-88 tonight in Fayetteville, Ark.

The Sooners (10-1) trailed in the first half 53-38 and led by as many as 25, but Oklahoma made a nice run, but fell short.

Oklahoma freshman Willie Warren led all scorers with 35 points, while Blake Griffin had 21 points and 13 rebounds.

Michael Washington was one of six Razorbacks to score in double figures with 24 points and snatched 11 rebounds for his his sixth double-double this season.

And could someone tell me why Arkansas isn’t ranked?

According to a tidbit by the Associated Press, the Razorbacks (10-1) have won eight straight, including four of its last five versus ranked teams and six straight versus the Top 25 at home.

Instead, we keep seeing the same old teams like Davidson, Marquette, Kansas and Memphis come in and out of the top 25 like a revolving door.

Have the brains that vote on the top 25 realized that last season is over?

How good is a team when its Preseason All-American can’t score and they still win by 30?

Stephen Curry of Davidson was doubled, tripled and quadrupled-team in a Preseason NIT consolation game last night. Curry, who had been averaging 35 points a game, took only three shots and came up empty with zero points, but Davidson still rolled to a 78-48 win against Loyola of Maryland.

Andrew Lovedale did all the hard work scoring 20 points and had 10 rebounds. Bryant Barr scored all of his 18 points off of three-pointers, and Will Archambault scored 13 points, including three from the three-point arc.

Ok, Loyola is no North Carolina or Kansas or Duke, but that was a pretty impressive win.

I’m still not sold on Davidson yet. They seem to be ESPN’s and everybody’s Flavor of the Month for what it accomplished last year.

Everything keeps coming up Tyler.

First his North Carolina Tar Heels were named preseason number one in both the Associated Press and ESPN/USA Today Coaches polls.

Now the All-Everything forward from North Carolina was named to the Associated Press Preseason All-American team for a record third straight year - and this time he is the unanimous pick. Hansbrough is also the returning national Player of the Year.

UCLA guard Darren Collison, Davidson guard Stephen Curry, Notre Dame forward Luke Harangody and Oklahoma forward Blake Griffin make up the rest of the team. Collison was also named preseason All-American last year.

The season is just around the corner and two of the premiere college basketball classics have announced their lineups.

The 15th annual John Wooden Classic at the Honda Center (formally the Pond, a much cooler name) in Anaheim, CA, Dec. 13, will feature UCLA facing off against DePaul, and in a sleeper, San Diego State will play St. Mary’s in the doubleheader.

I could never figure out why the organizers just make this a two-day tournament, or even an 8-team tournament. The Wooden Classic has attracted top teams in the past and turning it into a tournament would give it bigger prestige as the only top preseason tournament out here on the west coast.

Now if you want to talk about prestige and top teams, West Virginia, Texas, Villanova and last year’s NCAA tournament darlings Davidson will play in the Jimmy V Classic Dec. 9 at Madison Square Garden in New York.

Villanova reached the Sweet 16 losing to eventual champion Kansas. Davidson, which came within a basketball of reaching the Final Four also lost to Kansas in the Elite Eight. Texas reached the Elite Eight and lost to runner-up Memphis, and West Virginia, the only team not to lose to Kansas or Memphis, reached the Sweet 16 losing to Xavier.

Soon after I wrote about how Davidson Coach Bob McKillop received a contract extension through the 2015-16 season and won’t be around long enough before heading for the bigger and better, UCLA’s Ben Howland signed a deal lasting through the 2014-15 season this week. The new extension will pay Howland $1.97 million next season and $2.3 million in the final year, plus incentives that could top out at $235,000 a year.

And again I say, yeah, right!

Howland won’t see that $2.3 million because he won’t be at UCLA to collect it.

Howland is an even bigger commodity than McKillop. First off, he’s been to the Final Four three consecutive times. Second he coaches in the media capital of the world where everyone is watching him – especially NBA executives. And third, he coaches at UCLA, not known for keeping coaches for a long time unless their name happens to be John Wooden.

I’m predicting that Howland and the Bruins will win a national title or multiple titles before the 2014-15 season. And when that happens the NBA will call. Hey, it may even happen before the Bruins finally win one under Howland. All Howland needs is a few more solid seasons and some pro team in desperate need of a new makeup, new direction, or someone fresh to lead a team that just stinks will call him.

The NBA is tempting for just about every college coach. It was for Larry Brown, Jerry Tarkanian, Tim Floyd, Mike Montgomery and Rick Pitino just to name a few. Only Brown was able to win at both levels – at the University of Kansas and with the Detroit Pistons.

Howland is a good if not great coach. There’s no way he will resist the temptation of the NBA before 2014-15, especially since he plays in the same town that houses the Los Angeles Clippers.

Bob McKillop was given a contract extension through the 2015-16 season at Davidson.

Many of you will remember Davidson as the little engine that could in last season’s NCAA tournament. The tiny Charlotte, North Carolina school had a run that caused basketball brackets to be torn and shredded at jobs all over the nation.

The Wildcats came within a three-point shot of reaching the Final Four in a 59-57 loss to eventual champion Kansas.

But if anyone thinks that McKillop is actually going to stay at Davidson through 2015-16 is sadly mistaken. Well, you’re nuts!

McKillop, who has a career record of 340-225 at Davidson in 19 years is now a hot commodity. If he has another great season and another great run at the Big Dance, rest assured he will not be around for a 20th season.

He will get offers from some of the big schools. Schools that will be looking for a new start, a fresh face and someone with a solid track record of winning.

McKillop fits that profile.

McKillop said in a press conference last week that he is at peace where he is, loves the school, great fit for he and his family, blah, blah, blah.

But let someone out of the Pacific 10, ACC, SEC, Big 10, Big 12 or Big East come calling with an offer and see how much McKillop still thinks he’s in the best place at Davidson.

This is not a jab at McKillop or the fine folks at Davidson. I just find it hard to believe that someone of McKillop’s talent would not take advantage of some of the coaching opportunities that will no doubt come his way.