Budinger to Stay At U of A

[Irish]

http://www.eastvalleytribune.com/story/118680

Budinger to stay at Arizona

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Arizona Daily Star

Chase Budinger has decided to stay at Arizona after all.

Budinger pulled himself off of the NBA draft’s early entry list just before the 2 p.m. Tucson time deadline today, giving a significant boost to what would have been a depleted Wildcat lineup next season.

The Arizona Wildcats are expected to make an announcement later today.
Budinger had been expected to leave UA if he is a Top 20 pick in the draft, which he was initially projected to be when he declared for the draft in April. But he has slipped slightly on the mock draft boards while doing six workouts for NBA teams this month.

With Budinger, the Wildcats are still somewhat shorthanded with just 10 scholarship players. But they have standout returnees in Budinger and forward Jordan Hill, plus highly regarded incoming point guard Brandon Jennings if Jennings meets NCAA eligibility requirements.

Budinger averaged 17.1 points and 5.4 rebounds while shooting 38 percent from three-point range as a sophomore last season.

Unlike Bayless, who declared for the draft irrevocably in April, Budinger did so without signing with an agent so he could keep his eligibility alive. He then began training in Carson, Calif., and worked out for six NBA teams before making his decision final.

Perhaps the U of A connection did matter, only not in the way many thought. Kerr may have convinced Budinger that he wasn't ready and in another year could become a lottery pick. But that happens only if he gets stronger and plays better defense. If he stays in, he could drop to late first round or worse.

 

[Treesquid PhD]

Sarver and Kerr revere Lute Olson and probably see each other in the AU social gatherings often, considering how desperate Lute is to go out on his terms it wouldn't surprise me one bit if Lute asked a favor of Sarver and Kerr to nudge Chase back with a cold evaluation if they were not going to take him outright.

Of course my hate for Sarver and Kerr always transcended their Toothgone roots, I don't care if he licks Olson's junk if he does the things it takes to make the Suns better. The only problem I would see with them putting the University of Anus before the Suns is if someone takes their guy that was bluffing on Budlinger.

 

[Irish]

Here are some more early entry decisions. http://www.draftexpress.com/article/Early-Entry-Withdrawal-Deadline-Who-s-In-or-Out--537-EST--2929/

Ryan Anderson, Danilo Gallinari, Bill Walker, Richard Hendrix, Serge Ibaka, Chris Douglas-Roberts, Ante Tomic, C.J. Giles, Nicolas Batum, Alexis Ajinca IN the draft...

Ty Lawson, Wayne Ellington, Jeremy Pargo, Jonas Jerebko, Rodrigue Beaubois, Luc Louves, Robert Dozier, Ron Steele, Giorgi Shermadini, Lester Hudson, Chase Budinger OUT

There are some others:

-Lester Hudson will be returning to school, according to his friend Ruben Webber. Webber said that teams told Hudson he would be drafted anywhere from 35-50, but that he preferred not to roll the dice and instead opted to return and get his degree. In Hudson's mind, the worst-case scenario is he goes in the same range next year, and there is always the upside of being able to crack the first round of a weaker draft with his degree in hand. Tennessee-Martin will be playing stronger competition next season than they did this year, including games against Southern Cal and Tennessee.

-Luke Winn of SI.com is reporting that UCLA’s Luc Richard Mbah a Moute is surprisingly keeping his name in the draft, despite the fact that he may not hear his name called in either rounds of the draft on June 26th.

Some others of note:

IN (bubbles)

Mario Chalmers, Kansas
Richard Hendrix, Alabama
J.J. Hickson, North Carolina State
George Hill, IUPUI
Trent Plaisted, Brigham Young

 

[HooverDam]

Well, as a Suns fan I'm very happy about this. Ive been worried for a long time the Suns might screw up and take him at 15, now that can't happen.

As an ASU fan, I suppose this is bad news, having Chase back makes them a better team. Though, I'm not terribly worried about it, as I think ASU will have the better team next year either way.

 

[MaoTosiFanClub]

Kerr and Lute at the moment don't exactly have the best relationship after the Kevin O'Neill situation which makes theories on them colluding to get Budinger back in school even more nonsensical. But then again, these theories come from the mouths of ASU fans so expectations of anything rational from them should be tempered.

 

[Mainstreet]

Kerr and Lute at the moment don't exactly have the best relationship after the Kevin O'Neill situation which makes theories on them colluding to get Budinger back in school even more nonsensical. But then again, these theories come from the mouths of ASU fans so expectations of anything rational from them should be tempered.

I want you to know Sun Devil fans only have the U of A's best interest at heart.

 

[Mainstreet]

I thought Ty Lawson would definitely be a first round pick.

 

[Irish]

I thought Ty Lawson would definitely be a first round pick.

Stunning. Maybe that arrest was a bigger deal than we realized.

 

[mojorizen7]

Well, as a Suns fan I'm very happy about this. Ive been worried for a long time the Suns might screw up and take him at 15, now that can't happen.

As an ASU fan, I suppose this is bad news, having Chase back makes them a better team. Though, I'm not terribly worried about it, as I think ASU will have the better team next year either way.

Couldn't have said it better myself.

 

[Toothbrush]

I'm stoked.

 

[YouJustGotSUNSD]

Your avatar scares me, please remove it. There could still be some freak way that you could jinx it and that could come true.

 

[JCSunsfan]

If he had come out last year, he would have been drafted earlier than he would have this year. We'll see. I think he'll drop more next year, as more of his weaknesses are exposed.

He is going to have to make major defensive improvement to move up.

 

[TJ]

Just under the tutelidge of Lute for one more year will make him a better player. Everyone on the UofA squad regressed under O'Neill. It was sickening. Wish they could remove last season from the record books