The NBA Draft deadline has come and gone … and there is zero question who will begin next season at No. 1.
It is North Carolina, which will get Ty Lawson, Wayne Ellington and Danny Green all back for next season – along with Tyler Hansbrough, Marcus Ginyard, Deon Thompson and a loaded recruiting class.
Texas, with the return of A.J. Abrams, also receives a boost. The biggest losers? Probably UCLA and West Virginia; the Bruins couldn’t count on losing Luc Richard Mbah a Moute, though the Mountaineers not retaining Joe Alexander shouldn’t rate as a giant surprise at this point.
So here, in list form (tweaked yet again for a few oversights from earlier), is an early (but not as premature as the last two tries) look at a top 35:
1. North Carolina
2. Connecticut
3. Texas
4. Louisville
5. Pittsburgh
6. UCLA
7. Purdue
8. Duke
9. Notre Dame
10. Memphis
11. Tennessee
12. Michigan State
13. Kansas
14. Villanova
15. Florida
16. Gonzaga
17. Wisconsin
18. Ohio State
19. Oklahoma
20. Miami
21. Davidson
22. West Virginia
23. San Diego
24. Arizona State
25. Georgetown
26. Xavier
27. Southern California
28. Marquette
29. Kentucky
30. UNLV
31. Arizona
32. Wake Forest
33. Virginia Tech
34. Clemson
35. Syracuse
