RealGM Basketball Wiretap

List Of 77 Early Entry Candidates For 2013 NBA Draft

Wed, 01 May 2013 11:18:23 EDT

The 2013 NBA Draft has 77 early entry candidates, with 46 players from United States' colleges and 31 internatinoal players.

Players have the right to withdraw no later than June 17 ahead of the June 27 draft in Brooklyn.

College Players
Steven Adams, Pitt
C.J. Aiken, St. Joseph's
Anthony Bennett, UNLV
Vander Blue, Marquette,
Lorenzo Brown, N.C. State
Reggie Bullock, North Carolina
Trey Burke, Michigan
Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Georgia
Michael Carter-Williams, Syracuse
Adrien Coleman, Bethune-Cookman
Allen Crabbe, Cal
Deweyne Dedmon, USC
Gorgui Dieng, Louisville
Jamaal Franklin, San Diego State
Archie Goodwin, Kentucky
Tim Hardaway Jr., Michigan
Grant Jerrett, Arizona
Christian Kabongo, New Mexico State
Myck Kabongo, Texas
Shane Larkin, Miami
Ricky Ledo, Providence
Alex Len, Maryland
C.J. Leslie, N.C. State
Nurideen Lindsey, Rider
Amath M'Baye, Oklahoma
Ray McCallum, Detroit
Ben McLemore, Kansas
Tony Mitchell, North Texas
Shabazz Muhammad, UCLA
Nerlens Noel, Kentucky
Victor Oladipo, Indiana
Kelly Olynyk, Gonzaga
Norvel Pelle, Los Angeles College Prep
Otto Porter Jr., Georgetown
Marshawn Powell, Arkansas
Phil Pressey, Missouri
Andre Robertson, Colorado
Joshua Simmons, Spartanburg Methodist (JC)
Trevis Simpson, UNC-Greensboro
Tony Snell, New Mexico
Tahj Tate, Delaware State
John Taylor, Fresno Pacific
Adonis Thompson, Memphis
Deshaun Thomas, Ohio State
B.J. Young, Arkansas
Cody Zeller, Indiana

International Players
Alejandro Abrines, Barcelona 
Giannis Adetokunbo, Filathlitikos
Francois Affia Ambadiang, Geoplin Slovan
Nemanja Besovic, Partizan
Bogdan Bogdanovic, Partizan
Matias Bortolin, Arkadia,
Linos Chrysikopoulos, PAOK
Laszlo Dobos, Zaragoza
Dorde Drenovac, Biancoblu
Viktor Gaddefors, Oknoplast Bologna
Rudy Gobert, Cholet
Mouhammadou Jaiteh, Boulogne
Livio Jean-Charles, ASVEL
Sergey Karasev, Triumph
Louis Laveyrie, Paris-Levallois
Raul Neto, Lagun Aro GBC
Philipp Neumann, Brose Baskets
Lucas Riva Nogueira, Estudiantes
Alexandre Paranhos, Flamengo
Artem Pustovyi, Khimik
Bogdan Radosavljevic, Bayern Munich
Marko Ramljak, Zadar
Dario Saric, Cibona
Dennis Schroder, New York Phantoms
Strahinja Stojacic, Smederevo
Walter Tavares, Gran Canaria
Daniel Theis, Ratiopharm
Janis Timma, Ventspils
Marko Todorovic, Barcelona
Axel Toupane, Strasbourg
Adin Vrabac, Spars Sarajevo 

Russ Smith Staying At Louisville For Senior Season

Wed, 24 Apr 2013 15:39:43 EDT

Russ Smith has decided to remain at Louisville for his senior season, postponing the beginning of his NBA career.

Smith had been strongly declaring for the 2013 NBA Draft.

"I love these guys and this team, and I don't want to leave them right now," Smith said at the news conference.

"I never really got an official goodbye -- and that stuck with me. I wanted to do Senior Night."

Smith nearly transferred from Louisville after his freshman season, but helped lead the Cardinals to the 2013 National Championship.

Smith was considered a likely second round pick had he declared.

"The pros of staying were so much better than the pros of leaving," he said. "What was crazy, the pros for me leaving were very immature. You have to put the work in to get better, you have to do this and you have do that, those are all challenges and we both felt I'd be running away from getting better and maturing as a player if I just left. I have new goals and new challenges, and I'll reach them."

Pitino: Russ Smith '50-50' On Draft

Thu, 11 Apr 2013 11:51:19 EDT

Rick Pitino said that Russ Smith is “50-50″ about returning to Louisville next season instead of declaring for the NBA draft.

Smith’s father said after the national championship game that his son wouldn’t be returning to school for his senior season.
"Russ, I think, is 50-50," Pitino said. "He's a very confused young man in terms of his decision right now. He didn't want his dad to say that about him coming out. He wanted time to think a bit. I talked to him yesterday and I said whatever decision you make, I want you to pray on it, but I'm behind it 100 percent.

"I give him fatherly advice. I'm not telling him to stay. I'm not telling him to leave. I give him facts of what it's all about."

The 6-foot Smith is projected as a possible first round pick in the June draft.

Russ Smith's Dad Says Guard Will Enter Draft

Tue, 09 Apr 2013 14:50:50 EDT

Moments after Monday's national championship game, Russ Smith Sr. said that his son, Louisville guard Russ Smith Jr., will leave school early to enter the NBA Draft.

The junior guard led the national champions in scoring this season.

"I told him, 'Man, this is how you go out,'" Smith Sr. said. "All the people who doubted you since high school, you proved them wrong. You have back-to-back (Big East) championships, then you come back and win the national championship. All that hard work comes from working you out since you was three years old, running the beach, running the stairs, running with medicine balls, a boxing bag, it paid off."

Smith shot just 3-for-16 in Louisville's title win over Michigan, but he's still going out on a high note.

"When you go out, you want to go out with a national championship," Smith Sr. said. "He's got five rings: back-to-back Big East, back-to-back Final Four, national championship. What other way to go out?"

Source: Pitino Gains Election To Hall Of Fame

Fri, 05 Apr 2013 16:31:01 EDT

Rick Pitino has won induction into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, according to a source.

The 60-year-old will be introduced with the rest of the 2013 Hall of Fame class on Monday before a national championship game he hopes to be coaching Louisville in.

Pitino is appearing in his seventh Final Four. He's the only coach to have officially taken three schools to the national semifinals.

His eight years in the NBA included six as a head coach, two with the 24-win New York Knicks team he inherited and turned into a 52-win contender in 1989, and four with the 15-win Boston Celtics team he inherited and failed to rebuild before walking away in 2001.

Kevin Ware Cleared To Travel With Cardinals

Wed, 03 Apr 2013 18:36:43 EDT

Louisville guard Kevin Ware has been cleared to travel with the team to Atlanta for this weekend's national semifinal against Wichita State.

Ware sat down for an interview with ESPN's Rece Davis on Wednesday, his first on camera since sustaining compound fractures of his tibia Sunday in the first half of a 85-63 win over Duke in the Midwest Regional.

He underwent surgery and was expected to be out a year.

Ware said he was told his injury was determined to be a freak accident.

"The full force of me jumping so high and not seeing where I was landing caused the actual break," he said. "That's really all I got out of it."

The sophomore guard returned to campus Tuesday afternoon after being released from an Indianapolis hospital.

Kevin Ware Suffers Gruesome Leg Injury

Sun, 31 Mar 2013 18:18:52 EDT

Louisville guard Kevin Ware suffered a gruesome leg injury in the first half of Sunday afternoon's game against Duke.

Ware broke a bone in his lower right leg when he landed awkwardly, leaving many on the court visibly shaken.

Louisville players huddled around Ware as he left the court. Several of his teammates embraced each other as they cried. Rick Pitino wiped tears from his eyes during the nine-minute delay.

The injury occurred as Duke's Tyler Thornton made a three-pointer. Ware tried to contest the shot and his leg buckled when he landed.

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