Let the guessing games begin.
After the North Carolina men’s basketball season ended Sunday at the hands of the Kansas Jayhawks, speculation is now swirling around who will make the jump to the professional ranks.
The trio of Harrison Barnes, John Henson and Tyler Zeller all spurned the NBA last off-season in the hopes of making a national championship run this season. But at season’s end, the Tar Heels were no closer to hanging another banner than they were a year before — and the NBA is still waiting.
With barely enough time to allow UNC’s Elite Eight loss to sink in, no one made any indication about a potential decision.
“I don’t think any of us were thinking that far,” Barnes said after Sunday’s game. “I think we all had anticipation of going to New Orleans.”
Zeller, of course, will graduate this May and will likely be taken in the first round of the June 28 NBA draft at Madison Square Garden. But which, if any, of his teammates will be joining him is still up in the air.
Barnes has the highest draft stock, and he is projected to fall somewhere in the top-seven picks by Draft Express. Henson and sophomore point guard Kendall Marshall are also potential lottery picks, which would put them in the top 14 players selected.
Rumors swirled Wednesday that Barnes, Marshall and Henson had all decided to leave and an announcement was imminent. But at 3:53 Wednesday, Marshall tweeted “rumors, rumors, rumors.”
Freshman James Michael McAdoo also has first round potential this year, but early projections have him near the top of the board for 2013. Inside Carolina reported Wednesday that McAdoo’s father said McAdoo will look at options but currently plans to return to North Carolina next season.
