NBA Mock Draft 2011: Is Perry Jones Still a Top 5 Pick Now That He's Ineligible?

Baylor forward Perry Jones, has been suspended by the NCAA for the remainder of the season. The real victims here, however, are head coach Scott Drew and the rest of the Baylor basketball program.

Jones has been a projected top five draft pick all season and that will not change.

The suspension came after the NCAA learned that Jones' mother accepted loans from an AAU coach in order to make mortgage payments, supposedly without Jones' knowledge.

AAU is a separate institution from the NCAA. The only connection between the two are the talented young men, like Jones, who are funneled by AAU to schools, like Baylor, through summer tournaments.

The NCAA has no control over what goes on in AAU and I think that makes them nervous.

However, none of this really matters to Jones anymore.

Baylor was not going to make the NCAA Tournament so Jones' draft status was not connected to team success.

Jones is long and athletic. He has a good frame to build on and because he is so young scouts see a lot of room for improvement.

More importantly, Jones has good mechanics on his jump shot, though he never took a lot of jumpers with Baylor. Also, for such a big player he has great ball control on dribble drives. He likes to put the ball on the floor and has even shown his ability to make counter moves, likes spins and crossovers.

Think Chris Bosh coming out of Georgia Tech.

The scouts have seen all that and they like it.

If anything, Jones' suspension makes him more valuable because now there is no chance that he will stay in college for another season.