Fleeing college basketball early now the rule

I was taking a look at the list of NBA early entries this week and noticed that four underclassmen from the University of Memphis and three more from the University of Kansas were on the list.

That means, of the 10 starters on the floor for the opening tip of last month's national championship game, seven had intentions of moving on to greener pastures immediately thereafter.

If you throw in the other two Final Four participants -- North Carolina and UCLA -- the total jumps to 13 players, as each school had three players declare.

It makes you wonder whether there were more NBA scouts than fans and beat writers combined inside the Alamodome in San Antonio on Final Four weekend.

Yet, despite the distinct possibility of losing his entire starting five to the NBA, Memphis coach John Calipari still signed a contract extension following the Tigers' overtime loss in the championship game.

Since he could have easily taken Boone Pickens' money and relocated to Oklahoma State, there must be one heck of a recruiting class on its way to the Bluff City.

The same goes for Kansas' Bill Self -- who also declined Mr. Pickens' offer -- North Carolina's Roy Williams and UCLA's Ben Howland, who will all be back next season with their respective schools -- after all, they're contractually obligated to be.

Williams, at least, will have national player of the year Tyler Hansborough to rely on while the other three coaches may be heading for rebuilding years that will further test of their coaching skills.

Welcome to the new reality of college basketball -- the bigger the stage, the more people will look to move off it to an even bigger one.

(Stephen C. Smith Sr. writes for the Wichita Falls Times Record News.)