Gary Parrish

Jordan Hill went in the first round.

Chase Budinger went in the second round.

And that means that Arizona still leads the nation in NBA Draft picks since 1989, i.e., when the draft was shortened to two rounds. More than anything else, it's a testament to the Hall of Fame career of Lute Olson. But it also shows why Sean Miller found the vacancy too intriguing to pass up.

Here's the updated list ...

-- NBA DRAFT PICKS SINCE 1989 --

1. Arizona (31)
2. Duke (29)
3. UCLA (28)
4. North Carolina (25)
5. Connecticut (23)

(Also worth noting: First-round pick Brandon Jennings signed with Arizona, although he never went to college.)

Former Oklahoma star Blake Griffin is making the rounds in New York this week, doing loads of promotional appearances in advance of Thursday night's draft. On Tuesday, he even found time to play that fat-guy-turned-skinny-guy from Subway in a game of H-O-R-S-E.

Or S-U-B-W-A-Y, actually.

And thank God, it was caught on tape.

(Click this link to check it out.)

According to Jared from Subway (who is still looking good, by the way), the sandwich seller (Jared) and Clipper savior (Blake) split a couple of games. And though this is startling, it should not be considered a big deal because A) Griffin won't make his millions shooting, and B) Jared isn't someone Griffin is likely to face in the Western Conference (unless the Grizzlies sign Jared to a 10-day contract, which is more likely than you think.)

Later Tuesday, Griffin appeared on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon , at which point it became apparent that Fallon follows college basketball about as much as most people follow his TV show, which is to say not at all. He seemed shocked to learn that Blake has a brother named Taylor who also played at Oklahoma. Then Fallon challenged Blake to an awkward dunk contest and predictably lost.

So to recap: Blake Griffin dunks better than Jimmy Fallon but is a comparable shooter to Jared from Subway.

Consider than your official scouting report.

I've got a column today offering some projections on the NBA Draft, and among the things I address is not how the players will be picked, but how their careers will go. In other words, I provided the names (in order) of the college guys I believe will be viewed as the best NBA players from this draft five years from now.

My list ...

1. Blake Griffin

2. DeMar DeRozan

3. Stephen Curry

4. Hasheem Thabeet

5. James Harden

The lone surprise there is probably DeRozan, who people keep describing as wildly inconsistent even though that's not exactly an accurate portrayal of his freshman season. Sure, he started slow, then picked it up in December and early January before dipping for a short stretch. (OK, maybe he was a little inconsistent.) But to focus on that is to miss the fact that down the stretch DeRozan was awesome, proof being how he reached double-figures in each of his final nine games.

DeRozan averaged 17.6 points in those contests.

He got 17 and 11 against Cal in the Pac-10 tournament.

He got 21 and 13 against UCLA in the Pac-10 tournament.

He got 25 (on 10-of-16 shooting) against Arizona State in the Pac-10 tournament.

He averaged 18 points and seven rebounds in Southern California's NCAA tournament games.

So folks can focus on DeRozan's inconsistency if they like. But what I see when I look at DeRozan is an extremely athletic wing with tons of upside who was consistently awesome down the stretch -- awesome enough, in fact, to lead USC to an NCAA tournament appearance that seemed unlikely in February.

That's why I like him.

In five years, some franchises at the top of the lottery are going to regret passing on him.

Saint Mary's sophomore Patrick Mills has decided to remain in the NBA Draft, Gaels coach Randy Bennett told CBSSports.com on Monday.

"Yes," Bennett said via text message. "[He] stayed in."

Mills was the last of the relevant underclassmen to have their final decision made public. The Australian point guard is expected to go in the late first or early second round after a season in which he averaged 17.8 points for the West Coast Conference school.

The deadline to withdraw from the NBA Draft was Monday at 5 p.m. ET.

The following is how the day's developments broke down:

Who stayed in the NBA Draft on Monday?

• Austin Daye (Gonzaga)
• Chinemelu Elonu (Texas A&M)
• Taj Gibson (USC)
• Jodie Meeks (Kentucky)
• Patrick Mills (Saint Mary's)
• Jeff Teague (Wake Forest)

Who withdrew from the NBA Draft on Monday?

• Bryan Davis (Texas A&M)
• Luke Harangody (Notre Dame)
• Ater Majok (Connecticut)
• Donald Sloan (Texas A&M)
• Greivis Vasquez (Maryland)

As expected, Austin Daye will remain in the NBA Draft and forgo his final two years at Gonzaga.

An official announcement is expected shortly.

Daye averaged 12.7 points and 6.8 rebounds last season for the Zags, but he was wildly inconsistent and incapable of competing in physical games because of his 6-foot-11, 190-pound frame. Still, the skilled wing will likely be a first-round draft pick based on his potential.

The deadline to withdraw from the NBA Draft was Monday at 5 p.m. ET.

Chinemelu Elonu will remain in the NBA Draft and forgo his senior season at Texas A&M, a source close to the program told CBSSports.com on Monday.

Elonu averaged 9.8 points and 7.3 rebounds last season.

The 6-foot-10 forward is not expected to be a first-round draft pick.

This development paired with last year's departure of DeAndre Jordan means Mark Turgeon will lose a big man early for the second consecutive season. On the other hand, the Aggies also got some good news Monday when Donald Sloan and Bryan Davis each withdrew from the NBA Draft.

The deadline to withdraw from the NBA Draft is Monday at 5 p.m. ET.

Notre Dame junior Luke Harangody has decided to withdraw from the NBA Draft and return to school, Irish coach Mike Brey told CBSSports.com on Monday afternoon.

"He's [coming] back," Brey said via text message.

This development will give Harangody the opportunity to leave Notre Dame as the school's all-time leading scorer.

The post player averaged 23.3 points and 11.8 rebounds last season.

Who stayed in the NBA Draft on Monday?

• Austin Daye (Gonzaga)
• Chinemelu Elonu (Texas A&M)
• Taj Gibson (USC)
• Jodie Meeks (Kentucky)
• Patrick Mills (Saint Mary's)
• Jeff Teague (Wake Forest)

Who withdrew from the NBA Draft on Monday?

• Bryan Davis (Texas A&M)
• Luke Harangody (Notre Dame)
• Ater Majok (Connecticut)
• Donald Sloan (Texas A&M)
• Greivis Vasquez (Maryland)

Kentucky junior Jodie Meeks will remain in the NBA Draft.

"I want to thank the fans and the city of Lexington. They have been great and I will always be a Kentucky Wildcat," Meeks said in a released statement. "I feel comfortable with my decision and I’m confident in my ability. My family and I talked over the weekend and decided this was the best decision."

Sources told CBSSports.com that Meeks does not have a first-round guarantee, but he has decided to stay in the draft anyway, for better or worse. The 6-foot-4 guard averaged 23.7 points last season while shooting 40.6 percent from the 3-point line. He will almost certainly be picked somewhere late in the first round or early in the second.

This development is an obvious blow to John Calipari's first UK team.

With Meeks back, the Wildcats would've been most people's preseason No. 1 team. Now that honor will likely go to Kansas, although Kentucky should still be a favorite to make the Final Four thanks to a roster that is expected to include Patrick Patterson, John Wall and DeMarcus Cousins.

The following is a list of underclassmen still officially on the fence (at this moment) as it pertains to the NBA Draft:

• Austin Daye (Gonzaga)
• Chinemelu Elonu (Texas A&M)
• Luke Harangody (Notre Dame)
• Ater Majok (Connecticut)
• Jodie Meeks (Kentucky)
• Patrick Mills (Saint Mary's)
• Jeff Teague (Wake Forest)
• Greivis Vasquez (Maryland)

The deadline to withdraw is Monday at 5 p.m. ET.

Two of the bigger names in college basketball have finalized their decisions about the NBA Draft.

Texas junior Damion James has decided to withdraw from the NBA Draft, a source close to the Big 12 program told CBSSports.com on Saturday. Meantime, UCLA freshman Jrue Holiday told Brian Dohn of the Los Angeles Daily News that he will sign with an agent and effectively end his college career after one season.

James' return should make Texas a preseason top 10 team.

The 6-foot-7 forward was not expected to go in the first round of the NBA Draft.

Holiday, on the other hand, is a sure-bet lottery pick despite an underwhelming season.

The deadline for underclassmen to withdraw from the 2009 NBA Draft is Monday at 5 p.m. ET.

My story about U.S. Rep Steve Cohen's attempt to eliminate the NBA's 19-year-old age minimum for U.S. players to enter the draft has received a lot of feedback, as expected. The complaints are mostly typical, and not really worth debating here. But there is one point I'd like to stress, a point that always comes up, but one I never understand.

Obviously, people no longer try to pretend that high school players can't succeed.

That would be silly given LeBron James, Kobe Bryant, Dwight Howard and many others.

So now the argument I hear most regularly is that though LeBron and Kobe are great, what about Korleone Young, Lenny Cooke and all the other prep stars who tried to turn pro out of high school but failed miserably? My point is always that those guys made mistakes because they weren't projected first-round picks, meaning they should've never been in the draft in the first place. They simply made bad decisions. And then the guy I'm arguing with usually claims an age limit is needed to prevent more high school graduates from making mistakes, and that's where I get lost and fail to recognize the rationale.

My question: Why do we care if high school graduates make bad decisions about their careers?

God knows how many high school graduates skip college to try to pursue careers in acting or singing or poker (or you name it), and many of them (if not most of them) are making bad decisions when they do it. For every Conor Oberst , there are thousands of young songwriters living out of their cars, totally broke. But who cares? They are adults free to make decisions about their paths in life. And if we don't care about those high school graduates who might make mistakes, why do we care about these high school graduates who might make mistakes?

Beyond that, is it right to keep a Conor Oberst or Jeff Tweedy from doing what they should be doing (i.e., making music for money, ASAP) because somebody trying to follow their paths might not be good enough to do it? Of course not. So why keep a John Wall or Renardo Sidney from doing what they should be doing (i.e., playing basketball for money, ASAP) because somebody trying to follow their paths might not be good enough to do it?

And beyond that, why do we care about the 18 year-olds who might make bad decisions but not the 19 year-olds?

Seriously, what's the difference?

Do you have any idea how many college freshmen, college sophomores and college juniors make bad decisions about the NBA Draft each year? Why don't we think it's important to keep them from making bad decisions? Why is it that we feel obligated to keep a Korleone Young or a Lenny Cooke from a bad choice, but not a Darius Washington (left Memphis after his sophomore year and went undrafted) or a Harvey Thomas (left Baylor after his junior year and went undrafted)?

Again, I don't get it.

And the reason I don't get it is simple: Because it makes no sense.

There were strong rumors last offseason that Nick Calathes was on the verge of leaving Florida to play professionally in Greece, so much so that I asked the point guard about them last October. Calathes acknowledged he had offers and described them as "good money." But in the end, he claimed to "not think about it too much."

Obviously, he has now put more thought into it.

Because Calathes has opted to play professionally for Panathinaikos -- the reigning Euroleague champion -- rather than remain in the NBA Draft, the Orlando Sentinel reported this weekend. According to the newspaper, the contract will pay Calathes "around $1.1 million per year, in addition to providing him with a home, car and tax credits, making for a total package commensurate to what the NBA rookie salary scale provides a late-lottery selection."

Is it a smart move?

Perhaps, if Calathes wasn't going to be in the NBA next season anyway (he was a borderline first-round pick).

Otherwise, it might be a mistake.

But either way, the bottom line is the same -- that Nick Calathes will be a professional next season, which was never truly in doubt. Officially, Calathes spent the past month as an underclassman who could still return to Florida if he wanted. But nobody connected to the Florida program believed he'd ever play a junior season, proof being how the Gators tried late in the process to get involved with John Wall.

In other words, Florida was always in Calathes' past.

Now Greece is in his future.

And the NBA is anybody's guess.

Jonathan Tavernari announced late Wednesday that he's returning to BYU.

That's good news for the Cougars.

But it also hammers home a point I made last month -- that declaring for the NBA Draft for many of these guys (and I mentioned Tavernari specifically) is as pointless as it is harmless, something that accomplishes absolutely nothing. Turns out, Tavernari went through the process without ever working out for an NBA team, meaning he never had the opportunity to "catch somebody's eye" or do any of the things people who try to make sense of these decisions insist is possible.

Essentially, Tavernari's experience consisted of filling out an application.

Then he withdrew from the draft.

And though it was all indeed harmless, I ask again: What was the point?

Turns out, 74 college players -- and I use the word "college" and "players" loosely -- apllied for early entry to the NBA Draft. There were no nationally relevant surprises on the official list, which was released Thursday. But some of the names are hilarious in that they belong to people I did not know existed until like 90 minutes ago.

Now let me be clear: I don't know everything.

Or everybody.

But it is my full-time job to write and talk about college basketball, meaning I should at least be aware of everybody good enough to enter the NBA Draft. In fact, that might be a good guideline going forward, to have anybody who is thinking about entering first call me, and if I don't recognize them they should avoid filing the paperwork. I imagine it would go something like this ...

Me: Hello?

Prospect: Hey Gary. This is D'mond Grismore.

Me: Yes?

Prospect: Have you ever heard of me?

Me: I can honestly tell you I have not.

Prospect: OK. Then I won't enter the NBA Draft. Thanks for your help, Mr. Parrish.

Me: Anytime, D'mond. Take care of yourself.

(If you want to see the other 73 college players who declared besides D'mond Grismore, just scroll down.)

• Darion Anderson, 6-2, G, Soph., Northern Illinois
• Ryan Anderson, 6-4, SG, Jr., Nebraska
• Dominique Archie, 6-7, F, Jr., South Carolina
• DeJuan Blair, 6-7, PF, Soph., Pittsburgh
• Derrick Brown, 6-8, F, Jr., Xavier
• Chase Budinger, 6-7, SF, Jr., Arizona
• Nick Calathes, 6-6, G, Soph., Florida
• Earl Clark, 6-9, SF, Jr., Louisville
• Dwayne Collins, 6-7, PF, Jr., Miami
• Kareem Cooper, 6-10, C, Jr., UTEP
• Kenneth Cooper, 6-10, C, Jr., Louisiana Tech
• Brandon Costner, 6-8, PF, Jr., N.C. State
• Stephen Curry, 6-3, G, Jr., Davidson
• Bryan Davis, 6-9, PF, Jr., Texas A&M
• Austin Daye, 6-10, PF, Soph., Gonzaga
• DeMar DeRozan, 6-6, SF, Fr., USC
• Eric Devendorf, 6-2, SG, Jr., Syracuse
• Devan Downey, 5-9, PG, Jr., South Carolina
• Osiris Eldridge, 6-3, G, Jr., Illinois State
• Wayne Ellington, 6-4, SG, Jr., North Carolina
• Chinemelu Elonu, 6-10, C, Jr., Texas A&M
• Tyreke Evans, 6-5, G, Fr., Memphis
• Gary Flowers, 6-8, F, Soph., Chipola JC
• Jonny Flynn, 6-0, PG, Soph., Syracuse
• Jonathan Gibson, 6-2, G, Jr., New Mexico State
• Kyle Gibson, 6-5, F, Jr., Louisiana Tech
• Taj Gibson, 6-9, PF, Jr., USC
• Blake Griffin, 6-10, PF, Soph., Oklahoma
• D’mond Grismore, 6-6, F, Jr., Huston-Tillotson (Texas)
• Roger Guignard, 5-11, G, Jr., UT Arlington
• Daniel Hackett, 6-5, G, Jr., USC
• Luke Harangody, 6-8, PF, Jr., Notre Dame
• James Harden, 6-5, SG, Soph., Arizona State
• Kevin Harris, 5-11, G, Soph., NW Mississippi JC
• Paul Harris, 6-5, SF, Jr., Syracuse
• Gerald Henderson Jr., 6-5, SG, Jr., Duke
• Jordan Hill, 6-10, PF/C, Jr., Arizona
• Jrue Holiday, 6-2, G, Fr., UCLA
• Damion James, 6-7, F, Jr., Texas
• Brandon Jennings, 6-2, PG, Italy
• James Johnson, 6-8, F, Soph., Wake Forest
• Mac Koshwal, 6-9, PF, Soph., DePaul
• Gani Lawal, 6-9, PF, Soph., Georgia Tech
• Ty Lawson, 5-11, PG, Jr., North Carolina
• James Lewis, 6-4, G, Jr., Fresno Pacific
• Darnell Lindsay, 6-4, G, Jr., Tennessee Tech
• Dior Lawhorn, 6-7, F, Jr., San Francisco
• Ater Majok, 6-10, F. Fr., UConn
• Jodie Meeks, 6-3, SG, Jr., Kentucky
• Nate Miles, 6-7, SG, Fr., College of Southern Idaho
• Patrick Mills, 6-0, PG, Soph., Saint Mary’s
• Tasmin Mitchell, 6-7, F, Jr., LSU
• B.J. Mullens, 7-1, C, Fr., Ohio State
• Ronald Ogoke, 7-0, C, Jr., Paul Quinn College (Texas)
• Patrick Patterson, 6-9, PF, Soph., Kentucky
• Scottie Reynolds, 6-2, G, Jr., Villanova
• D.J. Rivera, 6-4, G, Jr., Binghamton
• Terrence Roderick, 6-6, SF, Soph., UAB
• Magnum Rolle 6-11, C, Jr., Louisiana Tech
• Junior Salters, 6-1, G, Jr., Wofford
• Donald Sloan, 6-3, G, Jr., Texas A&M
• Tyler Smith, 6-7, F, Jr., Tennessee
• DaJuan Summers, 6-8, SF, Jr., Georgetown
• Shawn Taggart, 6-9, PF, Jr., Memphis
• Jonathan Tavernari, 6-6, F, Jr., BYU
• Jeff Teague, 6-2, G, Soph., Wake Forest
• Hasheem Thabeet, 7-3, C, Jr., UConn
• Malcolm Thomas, 6-9, F, Soph., San Diego City College
• Dar Tucker, 6-5, SF, Soph., DePaul
• Jarvis Varnado, 6-9, C, Jr., Mississippi State
• Greivis Vasquez, 6-5, G, Jr., Maryland
• Martez Walker, 6-6, SF, Fr., Riverside CC
• Michael Washington, 6-9, PF, Jr., Arkansas
• Jeremy Wise, 6-2, G, Jr., Southern Mississippi
• Nic Wise, 5-10, PG, Jr., Arizona