Austin- Back to Basketball (BB)

Welcome back to the world of basketball. I took yet another week of as I spent my time in St. Augustine, Florida, as I awaited crucial basketball information, including decisions of college athletes as well as standings for the NBA Playoffs. First off, the 2014 NBA Draft scene seems to be just about set in stone. Jabari Parker officially declared for the draft on Wednesday, after meeting with Coach K, as did Rodney Hood. Soon after, Syracuse star Jerami Grant declared for the draft as well. There's a lot going on just in those three decisions, first off, Duke won't be that power house of a team that I mentioned in my previous blog. Okafor will still be there, but without Parker and Hood by his side, I'm not sure how successful the Devils will truly be. Next, Syracuse. The Orangemen lose 4 senior players, including CJ Fair and Baye Moussa Keita. The Orange also lose Tyler Ennis and Jerami Grant. This could be rough for 'Cuse. Considering that only 8 players see the court regularly, they lose 5 of those 8 players. Returning are Rakeem Christmas, Trevor Cooney and Michael Gbinije. I assume that these 3 will start. Dajuan Coleman, the sophomore big man who missed a large portion of the season last year due to injury. However, there’s already a lot of upside in the recent Syracuse offseason moves. The Orangemen signed Chris McCullough, the number 24 player on ESPN’s top 100 list. He’s an athletic power forward, and he stands 6’10 and weighs 220 lbs. The kid from the Bronx was given a scout grade of 92 and ranks 5 out of all power forwards in the high schools of the nation. Frank Howard is the next big name on the list. The combo guard has great passing and scoring abilities. It’ll be interesting to see what will come from the new recruits as next year rolls around.