The new 2008-09 North Carolina Tar Heels are my preseason number 1. I expect them to dominate the very tough ACC conference and make a run at the Final Four.

They are returning National Player of the Year, Tyler Hansborough along with Lawson, Ellington, and Green. Basically, last years Final Four team will be back. Add in a strong crop of Freshmen and the Tar Heels look to be a force to be reckoned with for years to come.

Well, it was no surprise that the Chicago Bulls took the hometown boy, Derrick Rose of Memphis, with the 1st pick in the NBA Draft.

What maybe surprised some Knicks fans was their selection of Danilo Gallinari. He immediately received boos, and asked for time to prove himself in an interview. Knicks fans are left to wonder, Danilo WHO?

The new trend among high school players who are good enough to be a lottery draft pick, but are not eligible because of NBA rules could be to play in Europe.

The NBA has a rule that a player must be one year out of high school before they can be drafted. The rule was designed to force players to play at least one year of college basketball, but that might not happen anymore.

Brandon Jennings, the high school star from Oak Hill Academy, has said he is seriously considering forgoing an obligatory year at Arizona and heading straight to professional basketball in Europe.
Check out a little Brandon Jennings highlight reel.

I'm all for sticking it to the NBA and their stupid rules. Seriously, how is one year of college basketball suppose to benefit the player more than a year in the NBA or Europe. College is not for everyone, and making players suffer through one year of fake college classes does nothing to help.

The dream of these players is to get paid to play basketball, and if they have to go to Europe to do it, then they just might. Their dream is not to watch college guys hung over and sleeping through classes, and girls parading around campus in stripper clothes.

I am a recent college graduate from a California state university, and can tell you that college is O-VER-RATE-D. Overcrowded classrooms, poor student teachers, and students who only care about what frat is having the best party that night is not the American dream for everyone.

The mandatory one year out of high school rule is another stupid mistake by the NBA. I say let the kids get paid now.

Apparently the stock of West Virginia's Joe Alexander has risen significantly. There has been talk that the Knicks are going to draft him with the 6th pick. Alexander is the type of hard nosed down-to-earth players the Knicks desperately need to turn the franchise around.

Who says white men can't jump? Watch Alexander throw down.

How young is too young? The National Association of Basketball Coaches on Thursday said it strongly opposes accepting commitments from students who have not finished their sophomore year of high school.

Some college basketball coaches apparently will accept commitments from anybody with potential, no matter how young they are. Tim Floyd of USC has proved that in recent years.

On Wednesday cities had the opportunity to submit bids to the NCAA to host the men's Final Four in 2012-16. Here are the cities: Indianapolis, New Orleans, Detroit, San Antonio, Houston, Phoenix, St. Louis, Minneapolis, Atlanta, and Dallas. My question is where are all the cities from the coasts? What about New York City with the new renovations that are going to be taking place at the Garden?

Things are shaping up very nicely for the 08-09 UNC Tar Heels. If you bleed powder blue then you loved the news last night that Lawson, Ellington, and Green were all coming back for another season.

The three players averaged over 40 points per game last season for the Tar Heels. If all three had entered the draft it would have been a blow to UNC. But, now they look to be the dominate team in the ACC. Sorry Duke.

Will UNC win the ACC this year? Let us know what you think.

Monday is the last day for college players without an agent to decide if they want to enter the NBA draft, or stay another year in college.

Kansas guard Mario Chalmers and West Virginia star Joe Alexander both made the decision to skip their final year of college basketball.

Chalmers was the Most Outstanding Player of the 2008 Final Four. Alexander led West Virginia in rebounding and scoring, and he also made the all-Big East first team.

Memphis guard Doneal Mack reportedly will be leaving the Tigers because he wants to see more playing time. He averaged 12.5 minutes per game last season for the Tigers, which was down from 14.2 minutes per game the previous season.

His father told the Commercial Appeal that they feel now is the time to leave the Tigers while Mack has two seasons of eligibility left.

Mack saw a sharp decline in playing time during the NCAA tournament. He only played 2 minutes in the championship game.

His father, Greg, said his son is interested in transferring to LSU, Wake Forest, or Clemson.

The Indiana basketball program took another big hit today when Jordan Crawford announced he will not be returning to the team for the 2008-09 season.

Crawford was a standout Freshman last year who averaged 9.7 points and 3.4 rebounds per game.

It looks like the Hoosiers will be in rebuilding mode for the next several years. It will take some strong recruiting from Crean and his staff to return this program to being one of the top in the nation.