College Basketball Predictions: The 15 Players Whose Teams Will Miss Them Most

Few sports inspire more “what might have been” rumination than college basketball. With so many players jumping to the NBA long before their eligibility expires, many of the best college teams of the last several decades have existed only in the imaginations of fans.

John Calipari’s teams have been set up for more such speculation than most, with four straight NBA drafts featuring one-and-done Calipari-coached stars. Among those standouts is ex-Kentucky PG John Wall, who would be a senior in Lexington if he hadn’t jumped to the Washington Wizards two drafts ago.

Some teams, like Kentucky, can reload without missing a beat, but even the best programs in the country would be even better if they could only get back some of their now-NBA stars.

Read on for the 15 early-entry players whose schools will have the most reason to wish they were still on campus in 2011-12.

15. Klay Thompson, Washington State

Few players meant more to their teams in 2010-11 than Klay Thompson. The 6’6” sharpshooter led the Cougars in scoring by nearly nine points per game while also leading the team in steals and assists.

With PF DeAngelo Casto also gone, it’s hard to imagine that WSU would be more than a bubble team even with Thompson. Even so, with no clear-cut favorite in the Pac-12, the Cougars could have surprised with would-be senior Thompson leading the charge.

14. Kyrie Irving, Duke

Duke fans didn’t get to see much of Kyrie Irving in his one season on campus, but they had good reason to like what they saw. In his eight regular-season games before getting hurt, Irving averaged 17.4 points and 5.1 assists.

With the Plumlee brothers anchoring things down low, Duke is still going to be a strong team. If Irving were still running the point (and letting freshman Austin Rivers come off the bench), they’d be a good deal better.

13. Devin Ebanks, West Virginia

Even in the always-crowded Big East, West Virginia is going to be a dangerous team thanks to the presence of seniors Kevin Jones and Darryl Bryant. The piece that might have put them over the top, though, is going to be languishing on the Lakers bench instead.

Devin Ebanks, a 6’9” power forward, would be a senior who could have teamed with Jones to give the Mountaineers a top-notch front line. Of all the players on this list, he’s the one who’s had the most trouble adjusting the pros thus far, and thus the one most likely to miss his old team, not just vice versa.

12. John Wall, Kentucky

Sure, the Wildcats have enough talent to make another Final Four run even in John Wall’s absence. Nevertheless, of all the young talent that’s darted in and out of Lexington over the last couple of years, Wall is decidedly the best.

If Terrence Jones had Wall (who would be a junior) feeding him the ball, there wouldn’t be much debate about the preseason No. 1 team.

11. Tyreke Evans, Memphis

Their valiant effort in last spring’s NCAA tournament notwithstanding, the current Memphis Tigers don’t have anything like the elite talent level they enjoyed under John Calipari. They may yet scratch out another Conference USA title, but they’re not a team that’s likely to come anywhere near the national rankings.

On the other hand, if Tyreke Evans were heading into his senior season instead of his third NBA campaign as a King, Memphis would be a lock for the conference title and a significant force on the national scene.

10. Marcus Morris, Kansas

With Tyshawn Taylor and Thomas Robinson, the Jayhawks aren’t exactly going to be bereft of talent in 2011-12. Even so, they’d be in a great position to improve on last year’s Elite Eight finish if they had either of the Morris twins back.

Of the two, Marcus gets the nod over Markieff because he was the more dangerous scorer (17.2 ppg vs. 13.6 ). A 6’9” senior PF with that kind of scoring punch would be a weapon few teams could match.

9. Chris Singleton, Florida State

With shot-blocking machine Bernard James returning, Florida State’s stifling defense is still going to be a force to be reckoned with. Even so, it would be a good deal better if Chris Singleton had stuck around for his final season in Tallahassee.

Singleton will be missed even more, though, on the offensive end, where FSU struggled mightily at times last season. Singleton, the squad’s leading scorer and rebounder in 2010-11, would have made the Seminoles a lock to return to the NCAA tournament.

8. Tristan Thompson, Texas

He’s far from the only player the Longhorns lost from last year’s squad, but Tristan Thompson will be tougher to replace than any of them. An athletic, 6’9” post player, Thompson was a force on both ends of the floor for Texas.

Prize recruit Myck Kabongo will help cushion the blow of losing Cory Joseph and Dogus Balbay, but there’s no such bandage in place for Thompson. The would-be junior would have given Texas an interior presence it just doesn’t have on its current roster.

7. Gordon Hayward, Butler

Standout center Matt Howard and scoring star Shelvin Mack are gone, and Butler is left to rebuild around senior guard Ronnie Nored. The process would be a lot easier if another would-be senior, Gordon Hayward, were still on campus.

Hayward, always a tough matchup as a 6’8” forward with a great shooting touch, would give the Bulldogs frontcourt some much-needed bite. Considering that he posted 15.5 points and 8.2 rebounds a game as a sophomore, his senior year would have been something to see.

6. Greg Monroe, Georgetown

Georgetown lost as much talent as anyone in the Big East this offseason, with its top three scorers from 2010-11 all departing. The backcourt exodus, though, would be a lot easier for the Hoyas to swallow if they still had Greg Monroe in the middle.

The would-be senior was solid as a Pistons rookie last year, averaging 9.4 points and 7.5 rebounds a game despite only starting for half the season. He and rising junior Hollis Thompson would give Georgetown a frontcourt to be reckoned with for next season.

5. DeMar DeRozan, USC

It’s almost a tossup which departed star the Trojans would rather have back—high-scoring guard DeMar DeRozan or hulking center Nikola Vucevic. Either one would likely make USC a favorite in a wide-open Pac-12.

DeRozan (who would be a senior) has developed faster, having already established himself as a viable NBA shooting guard. After he scored 17.2 ppg for the Raptors last year, imagine what he’d do in the guard-poor Pac-12 next season.

4. Jordan Crawford, Xavier

The return of point guard Tu Holloway has already made the Musketeers leading contenders for the Atlantic 10 title. As it stands, though, Xavier doesn’t exactly have a surplus of talent around its undersized senior guard.

Holloway wouldn’t be the only star senior on the team, though, if Jordan Crawford had stayed on campus. A late-season revelation for the Wizards, the 6’4” Crawford would make an ideal complement for Holloway and give Xavier a backcourt to rival the nation’s best.

3. Derrick Williams, Arizona

Derrick Williams may not have had much of anything left to prove at the college level, but Arizona could be forgiven for wishing he’d tried to prove it anyway. The standout PF would be a favorite for national Player of the Year honors if he’d come back for his junior season.

At 6’8” and with impressive athleticism, Williams racked up 19.5 points and 8.3 rebounds per game last year. After leading the Wildcats to the Elite Eight last year, he could have teamed with star recruit Josiah Turner to take them even farther in 2011-12.

2. Jrue Holiday, UCLA

The 2011-12 Bruins are likely to have the best front line in the Pac-12, led by Reeves Nelson. What they don’t have, with Malcolm Lee and Tyler Honeycutt gone, is anything like a top-flight perimeter player.

Pair the existing front-line with would-be senior Jrue Holiday, though, and UCLA would win the Pac-12 without half trying. The 76ers standout would make the Bruins a potential Final Four club.

1. Kemba Walker, UConn

Kemba Walker’s historic postseason accomplished nearly everything a player can accomplish in college basketball, so it’s hard to fault the UConn star for turning pro. Imagine what the Huskies could have been, though, if Walker had stayed for one last go-round in Storrs.

With the other key pieces from their national champions returning intact, it would be hard not to make the Huskies the favorites in 2011-12. Walker himself, meanwhile, would be a heavy Player of the Year favorite after his dazzling finish last season.