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Hansbrough to return
to UNC for senior year
Lawson, Ellington to test draft waters
KEN TYSIAC
ktysiac@charlotteobserver.com
Prepare for North Carolina to spend another season as a favorite for the NCAA championship.
National player of the year Tyler Hansbrough announced Friday he is returning to the Tar Heels for his senior season.
Teammates Ty Lawson and Wayne Ellington announced that they will enter the NBA draft without hiring agents, meaning they can return to school if they withdraw from the draft by June 16.
Even if only Hansbrough returns, analysts say the Tar Heels will be one of the top contenders for the NCAA title.
"They're back in the Final Four," ESPN's Digger Phelps proclaimed. "They're back in the championship game."
The players and coach Roy Williams declared the plans in a statement issued by the school and did not meet with the media. Hansbrough, a center who averaged 22.6 points and 10.2 rebounds last season, said he loves North Carolina and has big dreams to fulfill there, including graduating.
Returning will give him a chance to break the ACC career scoring record.
He needs 602 points to surpass the record of 2,769 points set by Duke's J.J. Redick from 2002-06.
"I look forward to playing in the NBA some day but not next year," Hansbrough said in the statement. "I love my collegiate experience and want to finish my four years here, then move on to my next dream."
Point guard Lawson and shooting guard Ellington both said they will complete their sophomore year in good academic standing to maintain the option of returning to school.
The draft is June 26, and the NBA's pre-draft camp will be held May 27 through June 2 in Lake Buena Vista, Fla. Players can work out for individual NBA teams beginning June 3.
Williams said he supports all three players and will continue advising Lawson and Ellington. Williams said he contacted more NBA executives than ever to help these players decide.
"I want what is best for each individual, and each individual player is different and has different factors to consider," Williams said. "It was a very exhausting time of research spent talking to the NBA people. I contacted more than half the teams in the NBA."
Charlotte's Jay Bilas, who analyzes the draft for ESPN, said Hansbrough probably would have been drafted in the 15 to 25 range of the first round.
Bilas projects Lawson as a first-round pick but is less certain of Ellington's status. The draft has two rounds, and only first-round picks get guaranteed contracts.
So many underclassmen -- including N.C. State freshman J.J. Hickson -- have declared without hiring an agent that Bilas expects a lot of withdrawals by June 16. That means players who stay in the draft could move up.
The current freshman class led by Michael Beasley and Derrick Rose is considered strong, so Bilas said many underclassmen are better off waiting for next year's draft. Next season's freshman class isn't as highly regarded.
"Whenever they decide to come out for real, they're both good NBA prospects," Bilas said of Lawson and Ellington, "but I don't know that this year is the right year to come out."
Reserve point guard Quentin Thomas was the only scholarship senior the Tar Heels lost from 2007-08, after going 36-3 and losing to Kansas in the NCAA semifinals.
North Carolina will add three McDonald's All-America freshmen next season -- center Tyler Zeller, forward Ed Davis and point guard Larry Drew.
Ken Tysiac: 919-834-8471
