As expected, West Virginia sophomore Devin Ebanks will remain in the NBA Draft, hiring an agent and precluding any possibility of returning to school, per Gary Parrish of CBS Sports.
The 6'8'', 205-pound Ebanks is widely considered a fringe first-round pick in the upcoming NBA Draft, with Draft Express currently ranking him 30th in what is shaping up to be a deep class. While his prototypical length and athleticism for an NBA small forward make him an attractive prospect, Ebanks has shown little ability to create his own shot in two years at Morgantown, and his skill level, particularly his ball-handling, is fairly suspect for someone who projects to be a perimeter player in the pros.
While it's hardly a surprise that Ebanks is staying in the draft, the new draft process -- where underclassmen have until the end of April to declare, and then have to decide by May 8th whether or not to remain in the draft -- has left many potential early entrants with little idea of where or whether they'll get drafted. Indeed, as Gary Parrish points out, practically no NBA teams have begun working prospects out, leaving players with little concrete information as to whether they should go back to school or not. With a deluge of college players declaring for the draft due to concerns about a possible lockout in 2011, expect quite a few quality players to go undrafted thanks to bad, or rather a lack of, information.