College Basketball Power Rankings: Top 10 Teams Impacted By Early NBA Entry

Stay in school or go pro?

Continue in college or start to earn the "Big Bucks"?

These decisions are part of the college basketball landscape on an annual basis.

As coaches are recruiting, they need to not only fill their rosters with the best players possible, but they need to project into the future when their elite-level players may go "early entry" into the NBA draft.

I know that this is strictly an unrealistic situation, but just think what these teams would be like if everyone stayed in school for four years.

All of these players could still be playing the college game...all of these individuals could be competing to get to Houston this April.

Over the last couple years, there have been more than a few one-and-done and two-and-gone players.

Here are the top 10 teams that have been impacted by early entry to the NBA.

We will look at the teams who have lost lots of players.

But, more importantly, we will put the teams in order of to what degree the program has been affected by these departures, from the least to the most impact.

10. Ohio State Buckeyes

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MILWAUKEE - MARCH 19: Evan Turner #21 of the Ohio State Buckeyes moves the ball in the second half against the UC Santa Barbara Gauchos during the first round of the 2010 NCAA men's basketball tournament at the Bradley Center on March 19, 2010 in Milwauk

Ohio State's Early Entry Players

Evan Turner: 6'7" - Philadelphia 76ers

Kosta Koufos: 7'0" - Minnesota Timberwolves

B.J. Mullens: 7'0" Oklahoma City Thunder

Just losing Turner, last year's Naismith and Wooden Award winner, would be enough.

On top of that, you lose two 7-footers in the last two years?

Can you imagine this trio being paired up with Sullinger, Buford and Lighty?

The Buckeyes might not just be undefeated. They might be unbeatable.

Head coach Thad Matta keeps restocking his program in Columbus as well as any one in the country, with virtually no dropoff.

In fact, as things stand right now, things are just getting better for the Buckeyes.

9. Kansas Jayhawks

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KANSAS CITY, MO - MARCH 11: Cole Aldrich #45 of the Kansas Jayhawks reacts after getting fouled as he gives a high five to teammate Xavier Henry #1 as Nick Okorie #23 of the Texas Tech Red Raiders looks on in the first half during the quarterfinals of th

Kansas' Early Entry Players

Cole Aldrich: 6'11" - Oklahoma City Thunder 

Xavier Henry: 6'6" - Memphis Grizzlies

Bill Self needed to replace 25 points and 14 rebounds with the departure of Aldrich and Henry.

That's a lot to lose.

But, fortunately for the Jayhawks, they had plenty of depth and an outstanding recruiting class to boot.

The Jayhawks are playing at an extremely high level, going 20-1 so far, and are currently No. 2 in the nation.

Kansas continues to be the best shooting team in the country (51.9 percent).

Other than the single loss to Texas recently, the Jayhawks are playing like a team that may end up in Houston for the Final Four.

8. Kentucky Wildcats

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SYRACUSE, NY - MARCH 27: (L-R) Ramon Harris #5, DeMarcus Cousins #15, Daniel Orton #33 and John Wall #11 of the Kentucky Wildcats look on dejected from the bench in the final minute of the second half against the West Virginia Mountaineers during the eas

Kentucky's Early Entry Players

John Wall 6'4" - Washington Wizards

Patrick Patterson  6'9" - Houston Rockets

Eric Bledsoe  6'1" - Oklahoma City Thunder

DeMarcus Cousins  6'11" - Sacramento Kings

Daniel Orton  6'10" NBA D-League

Unofficially, no team has ever lost more talent than Kentucky has in such a short amount of time.

To lose one or two players can be damaging, but to lose five in one year....devastation.

Unless you are John Calipari, who continues to recruit at the highest level in college basketball, and keeps a highly-ranked team on the court.

The fact that he has been able to start off the 2010-11 16-4 with a brand new line-up is nothing short of amazing.

Not only a brand new line-up, but one that features a trio of talented freshmen - Terrence Jones, Doron Lamb, and Brandon Knight.

7. Syracuse Orange

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MEMPHIS, TN - MARCH 27: (L-R) Jonny Flynn #10, Arinze Onuaku #21, Paul Harris #11 and Andy Rautins #1 of the Syracuse Orange sit on the bench late in the second half before losing to the Oklahoma Sooners during the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament South

Syracuse's Early Entry Players

Wesley Johnson: 6'7" - Minnesota Timberwolves

Jonny Flynn: 6'0" - Minnesota Timberwolves

Syracuse started off this a perfect 18-0 and then fell into a four-game slump.

Its very likely that the Orange would have pulled out at least two or three of these games during their current slide, and still be in the top of this year's rankings.

Johnson was last year's leading scorer and rebounder (16.5 ppg/8.5 rpg).

Flynn ran the show from the point the year before with 17.4 points and 6.7 assists per game.

If Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim can continue to get things turned around here quickly (they beat UConn on the road tonight), the Orange (19-4, No. 17) still have a chance to get a decent seed for the tournament and do some damage once they get there. 

6. Memphis Tigers

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SAN ANTONIO - APRIL 07: Derrick Rose #23 of the Memphis Tigers looks down in the final minutes of overtime against the Kansas Jayhawks during the 2008 NCAA Men's National Championship game at the Alamodome on April 7, 2008 in San Antonio, Texas. The Jay

Memphis' Early Entry Players

Derrick Rose: 6'3" - Chicago Bulls

Tyreke Evans: 6'6" - Sacramento Kings

Elliot Williams: 6'5" - Portland Trailblazers

What would you predict would happen if you lost two players from your program, in successive years, that both (Rose -2009; Evans-2010) went on to win the Rookie of the Year?

On top of that, you also have gone through a major coaching change.

Most programs couldn't withstand this flurry of substantial departures.

It hasn't been easy, but second-year head coach Josh Pastner has done better than just about anybody could have expected.

The Tigers went 24-10 last year, and Memphis is currently 16-5 overall, 5-2 in Conference USA (tied for first).

The key to Pastner thriving in the midst of all of this chaos is his ability to pull in elite-level recruiting classes.

5. UCLA Bruins

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EUGENE, OR - JANUARY 24: Kevin Love #42 and Russell Westbrook #0 of the UCLA Bruins celebrate together against the Oregon Ducks at MacArthur Court January 24, 2008 in Eugene, Oregon. (Photo by Jonathan Ferrey/Getty Images)

UCLA's Early Entry Players

Kevin Love: 6'10" - Minnesota Timberwolves

J'Rue Holiday: 6'3" - Philadelphia Seventy-Sixers

From 2005-2008, no one in college basketball was better than the Bruins.

Three straight 30+ wins seasons. Three straight trips to the Final Four.

Coach Ben Howland was bringing in elite-level players, and then those players were leaving to go on the NBA. The two listed above were just the most recent players to go early.

Right before their departure, Russell Westbrook moved on.

Love was a great, throw-back collegiate player who has just gotten better and better. He is the NBA leader in rebounds and double-doubles.

Holiday is scoring 14 points and handing out 7 assists in his second year in the league.

UCLA is just now recovering from one departure after another. They are currently 14-7 overall, and need to play well in the second half of the Pac-10 schedule to make it to the NCAA tournament

4. Oklahoma Sooners

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KANSAS CITY, MO - MARCH 21: Blake Griffin #23 of the Oklahoma Sooners looks on during the second round game against the Michigan Wolverines in the NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament at the Sprint Center on March 21, 2009 in Kansas City, Missouri

Oklahoma's Early Entry Players

Blake Griffin: 6'10" - Los Angeles Clippers

Keith "Tiny" Gallon: NBA D-League

Tommy Mason-Griffin: NBA D-League

Two years ago, the Sooners were a dominant team led by a dominant player, national player of the year, Blake Griffin.

You can't lose a player like Griffin and it not have a humongous impact on your program.

Last year, head coach Jeff Capel landed a top-tier recruiting class with Gallon and Mason-Griffin being the prizes.

They're all gone. And the Sooners are struggling, going 12-9 overall and 4-3 in Big 12 play.

Like any program, recruiting is the life-blood of success or returning to success.

Capel is, other than senior captain Cade Davis, working with a young group that is hopefully laying the foundation for returning to the highest level of the Big 12.

3. Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets

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CHARLOTTE, NC - MARCH 14: Ganai Lawal #31 of the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets goes after a loose ball in front of Brian Zoubek #55 of the Duke Blue Devils during day two of the 2008 Men's ACC Basketball Tournament at Bobcats Arena on March 14, 2008 in Cha

Georgia Tech's Early Entry Players

Derrick Favors: 6'10" - New Jersey Nets

Gani Lawal: 6'9" - Phoenix Suns

Last year, the Yellow Jackets went 23-13, and Lawal and Favors were Georgia Tech's inside game, scoring 25 points and grabbing 17 rebounds per game.

The Yellow Jackets are currently 10-10, and in eighth place in the ACC.

They have only won three of their last eight games.

Coach Paul Hewitt is on the hot-seat.

Hopefully, he can quickly re-build a new nucleus around Iman Shumpert, Glen Rice, Jr. and rest of the young, Yellow Jackets.

2. Nevada Wolfpack

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LAS VEGAS - NOVEMBER 18: Luke Babbitt #5 of the Nevada Wolf Pack shoots over Steve Jones #20 of the UNLV Rebels during their game at the Thomas & Mack Center on November 18, 2009 in Las Vegas, Nevada. UNLV won 88-75. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images)

Nevada's Early Entry Players

Luke Babbitt: 6'9" - Portland Trail Blazers

Armon Johnson: 6'3" - NBA D-League

After going 21-13 last season, Nevada is struggling this year, going 8-13.

Babbitt and Johnson averaged 38 points and 12 rebounds per game.

Nevada may have challenged Utah State for the WAC lead.

But, instead, they are struggling to stay within striking distance.

The good news for Nevada is that there are no seniors among the players who are contributing to this year's team, so hopefully this squad is gaining valuable experience that they can build on to get back into the thick of things in the WAC.

1. Wake Forest Demon Deacons

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NEW ORLEANS - MARCH 20: Al-Farouq Aminu #1 of the Wake Forest Deacon Demons shoots during the second round of the 2010 NCAA mens basketball tournament at the New Orleans Arena on March 20, 2010 in New Orleans, Louisiana. (Photo by Dave Martin/Getty Imag

Wake Forest's Early Entry Players

Al-Farouq Aminu: 6'9" - Los Angeles Clippers

James Johnson: 6'9" - Chicago Bulls

Jeff Teague: 6'2" - Atlanta Hawks

In the two previous seasons, Wake Forest was 24-7 and 20-11, competitive in the ACC.

This year, the Demon Deacons are 8-14 and 1-6 in conference play (last place).

With the departure of the three above players, Wake Forest lost 49 points, 23 rebounds and 8 assists per game. Ouch!

The fall has been fast and hard.

Of their eight wins, only Iowa and Virginia play at the same level, conference-wise, and those two teams have a combined record of 19-23.

The hope for first-year Wake Forest coach Jeff Bzdelik. is that, out of the top five scorer on the team, two are freshmen and two are sophmores.