2009 NBA Draft: Early Big Board

The 2008 draft class is stacked, no doubting that.

2009 will definitely have its stars near the top—but after that, there seems to be a dropoff.

This upcoming college basketball season, lesser-known players will make names for themselves throughout the season—and, most importantly, during the NCAA tournament.

The ensuing list contains mainly collegiate players, but there are a few internationals. This list is also based on who I think has the best shot at going pro as an early entrant.

Enough babble, though. Here's my early 2009 Big Board:

1. B.J. Mullens, Ohio State freshman center

2. Blake Griffin, Oklahoma sophomore forward

3. Demar DeRozan, USC freshman guard

4. James Harden, Arizona State sophomore guard

5. Ricky Rubio, Spain guard

6. Chase Budinger, Arizona junior forward

7. Hasheem Thabeet, Connecticut junior center

8. Earl Clark, Louisville junior forward

9. Patrick Patterson, Kentucky sophomore forward

10. Brandon Jennings, Arizona freshman guard

11. Wayne Ellington, North Carolina junior guard

12. Tyreke Evans, Memphis freshman guard

13. Tyler Smith, Tennessee junior forward

14. Al-Farouq Aminu, Wake Forest freshman forward

15. Terrence Williams, Louisville senior forward

16. Ty Lawson, North Carolina junior guard

17. Tyler Hansbrough, North Carolina senior forward

18. Austin Daye, Gonzaga sophomore forward

19. Damion James, Texas junior forward

20. Gerald Henderson, Duke junior guard

21. A.J. Ogilvy, Vanderbilt sophomore center

22. Darren Collison, UCLA senior guard

23. Kyle Singler, Duke sophomore forward

24. Greg Monroe, Georgetown freshman forward

25. Jrue Holiday, UCLA freshman guard

26. Stephen Curry, Davidson junior guard

27. Raymar Morgan, Michigan State junior forward

28. Jordan Hill, Arizona junior forward

29. Rodrigue Beaubois, France guard

30. Dionte Christmas, Temple senior guard

31. Omri Casspi, Israel forward

32. Tyrese Rice, Boston College senior guard

33. Victor Claver, Spain forward

34. Derrick Brown, Xavier junior forward

35. Curtis Jerrells, Baylor senior guard

36. Alonzo Gee, Alabama senior forward

37. Jeff Pendergraph, Arizona State senior forward

38. Eric Maynor, VCU senior guard

39. Stanley Robinson, Connecticut junior forward

40. Taj Gibson, USC junior forward

41. Willie Warren, Oklahoma freshman guard

42. Robert Vaden, UAB senior guard

43. Nick Calathes, Florida sophomore guard

44. Sam Young, Pittsburgh senior forward

45. A.J. Price, Connecticut senior guard

46. Connor Atchley, Texas senior forward

47. Josh Carter, Texas A&M senior guard

48. Jeff Adrien, Connecticut senior forward

49. Ronald Steele, Alabama senior guard

50. Stefon Jackson, UTEP senior guard

51. Lorenzo Wade, San Diego State senior guard

52. Jerel McNeal, Marquette senior guard

53. Josh Heytvelt, Gonzaga senior forward

54. Danny Green, North Carolina senior forward

55. Joe Ingles, Australia forward

56. Greivis Vasquez, Maryland junior guard

57. K.C. Rivers, Clemson senior guard

58. Chris Johnson, LSU senior forward

59. Antonio Anderson, Memphis senior guard

60. Dominic James, Marquette senior guard

Keep in mind that this was a very, very early look at some of next year's prospects. Other names will deserve to be on this list, a lot of which will probably be freshmen phenoms and international players.