Soooo... Where to begin...

WOW.

So Jonny Flynn, Eric Devendorf, and Paul Harris have all declared themselves eligible for the NBA draft. As a Syracuse fan, you are probably thinking two things (at least this is what I thought):

1) Jonny Flynn OK, but why would the other two leave college early to NOT play in the NBA?

2) Where do we go from here?

We sort of had a feeling that this was coming from Paul Harris, seeing as how he was back home in Niagara Falls playing pickup games at Niagara University the last week instead of going to class.

But I must say, Eric Devendorf threw a curve ball at me.

I actually had this discussion with a buddy of mine while driving back from New York following the Big East Tournament. The argument was brought up of "Hey he has his degree, what does he have left to do at Syracuse now?", and I guess I see that point. But at the same time, why would you give up your dream of playing in the NBA when you can still take a shot at it? With one more year of eligibility left you would think he would return to Syracuse, be in the national spotlight every week as a top 5 team, and get some publicity and sharpen your image for next years draft. Apparently Eric and myself are on a different wavelength.

But in Eric's defense, at least he is going to have a degree from Syracuse University. The same can not be said for Paul Harris. Let me be the first person to say that I love Paul Harris' hustle and ability to do the small things for this team. Having said that, Paul Harris is not ready to play in the NBA. Not only is Paul Harris not ready to play in the NBA, but he has no college degree to fall back on if is professional career does not work out. Jonny Flynn will make millions playing basketball. Paul Harris more than likely will not. And when that is over, then what is he going to do? Call me a guidance counselor/old man, but Paul Harris' future could be potentially screwed if he does not get this degree. Playing in Europe can only be so fun for so long.

In terms of the player that I feel most comfortable about coming back next year, he is coincidentally the one with the highest NBA stock right now. Jonny Flynn could very easily be a lottery pick this draft, but for some reason I still think he will be back next year to lead this team. Granted I did say the same thing about Paul Harris, but I think I'm right about this one.

Now, there still is the possibility of all three of them coming back. The Syracuse Athletics press release yesterday stated that Flynn did not sign with an agent, but did not specify about the other two. This definitely hints that we are losing Harris and Devendorf, but it is not official since no players have said ANYTHING since all of this went down.

Now Syracuse basketball fans, where do we go from here? The possibility of losing Paul Harris sucks, but is manageable without him. Devendorf? That's kind of a punch in the gut considering he is 14th on the list of Syracuse all time scorers (also noting that if he averaged 17 points a game over a 35 game schedule he would pass Lawrence Moten for SU's all time leading scorer), especially since he is leaving to more than likely not make an NBA roster. His shooting and scoring ability will definitely hurt the 'Cuse next year. But I think it is safe to say that all of Syracuse are awaiting the decision of Jonny Flynn. To be blunt: Syracuse is a top 10 team with Flynn, and a #20-25 team without him.

No pressure though, Jonny.

-KShaw