2009 NBA Draft underclassmen deadline: Who's in and who's out?

June 15, 10:41 PMCollege Basketball ExaminerDave Ryan

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Vasquez is headed back to Maryland

Ever since the NBA implemented an age restriction that effectively eliminated high school players from making a direct leap, draft classes have been overflowing with underclassmen. Gone are the years where popular senior prospects dominated the bulk of the first round, replaced instead with a wealth of highly touted freshmen and sophomores.

So why exactly has there been such a change? For starters, most NBA teams are more and more willing to take risks on players that probably won't pay dividends right away. This was how it worked for high schoolers in the late 90's and early 2000's, with everyone basically assuming there would be a 2-4 year developmental window for most high draft picks. But this style of drafting potential over college production and NBA readiness clearly was not favored by everybody, and that's why you have guys like Kobe Bryant (13th in 1996), Al Harrington (25th in 1998), A'mare Stoudemire (9th in 2002) and Al Jefferson (15h in 2004).

By forcing NBA hopefuls to play at least one year of college ball, it means that it's impossible for a player to fly under the radar like before. Memphis' freshman point guard Tyreke Evans epitomizes this. Even though he was known by virtually everyone that closely follows the college game even as a prep player, Evans was still viewed as a mid to late first round pick before the 08-09 season. But after posting very impressive numbers across the board along with being the star of a Memphis team that gained a #2 seed in the NCAA Tournament, it became painfully obvious that Evans was underrated entering the year. Fast track to now and Evans is a top ten lock and probably will be the first freshman off the board. It's amazing what one season can do.

It has also become extremely popular for sophomores and juniors who are borderline prospects to declare for the NBA without hiring an agent. This not only buys the player more time to think over his options, but it also helps him get a good, solid gauge on where he's projected to be drafted. Some guys get promises from certain teams, and that's usually enough for them to keep their name in the draft pool. But for others, off-hand scouting opinions and mock draft rankings just aren't enough information to make a life-altering decision over, and that's what makes the process so difficult to evaluate for less heralded players.

Now that June 15th's deadline for underclassmen to withdraw their name has officially passed, we have a final look at the 2009 NBA Draft pool for the first time. Here's a breakdown of the decisions made by this year's underclassmen:

Headed to the NBA

Back to School

 Feel free to let me know if I've missed anybody on either of these lists.