This can’t be life…

This morning I’m in North Carolina visiting friends and taking a break now that classes are over. I woke up, turned on the television and saw THIS:

Hansbrough Returning For Senior Season

Ellington, Lawson enter Draft without hiring agents.

Bittersweet. Bitter because we’re losing the best point guard in the country along with Young Weezy (Wayne Ellington) a talented addition to Carolina’s roster. Sweet, however, because Tyler loves Carolina and understands that staying is best for him AND for my sanity. The article, from TarHeelBlue.com, is available after the jump. please send your condolences to a diehard Carolina fan!

CHAPEL HILL – Tyler Hansbrough, the 2007-08 National Player of the Year, will return to the University of North Carolina for his senior year and sophomore guards Wayne Ellington and Ty Lawson will declare for the NBA Draft but not hire agents, allowing for the possibility for them to return to school at a later date.

“I am pleased and most supportive of the decisions made by all three young people,” says head coach Roy Williams. “I want what is best for each individual and each individual player is different and has different factors to consider. It was a very exhausting time of research spent talking to the NBA people. I contacted more than half the teams in the NBA, speaking to various player personnel representatives including a number of general managers. In fact, I contacted more teams this year than I’ve ever done before to provide them with the best information possible on their draft status. We gave that information over to Tyler, Ty, Wayne and their families and allowed them to make the decision.

“We will continue to help Ty and Wayne with the draft process and give them all the support they need in making any future decisions related to staying in the draft or returning to Carolina.”

“I am returning to school for my senior year as a Tar Heel and will not be applying for the NBA Draft,” says Hansbrough. “I love playing at North Carolina and still have big dreams to realize here, including graduating. Of course I look forward to playing in the NBA some day but not next year. I love my collegiate experience and want to finish my four years here, then move on to my next dream of playing in the NBA. I am very relieved that this decision is behind us and I can concentrate on my academic work and improving my game for next season.”

Hansbrough has earned first-team All-America and first-team All-ACC honors in each his first three seasons. He was was named 2007-08 Collegiate Player of the Year by The Associated Press, the NABC, the USBWA, The Sporting News, Sports Illustrated, CBS/Chevrolet, ESPN.com, Basketball Times, the Commonwealth Club of Kentucky (Rupp Award), the Atlanta Tipoff Club (Naismith Award) and the Los Angeles Athletic Club (Wooden Award).

The Poplar Bluff, Mo., native has scored 2,168 points and grabbed 943 rebounds. He is the second-leading scorer in Carolina history and is first among ACC players and eighth in NCAA history in free throws made with 733. In 2008, he became the fourth player in ACC history (with UNC’s Lennie Rosenbluth in 1957, Duke’s Christian Laettner in 1992 and UNC’s Antawn Jamison in 1998) to win National Player of the Year, NCAA Regional MVP, ACC Tournament MVP and ACC Player of the Year honors in the same season.

Ellington and Lawson have helped lead Carolina to a 69-10 record with a pair of ACC regular-season titles, two ACC Tournament championships and berths in the Elite Eight and Final Four in their first two seasons.

Ellington has scored 1,092 points, was a second-team All-ACC selection in 2007-08 and has earned ACC All-Tournament Team honors in both seasons. He scored a career-best 36 points in a dramatic overtime win at Clemson, scored 20 or more points nine times as a sophomore and has the ninth-best free throw percentage in Carolina history.

“I am applying for the NBA Draft, but I am not hiring an agent,” says Ellington, a native of Wynnewood, Pa. “I will comply with all the necessary rules to make certain that my NCAA eligibility is not negatively affected. I really enjoy North Carolina and my teammates. I’m not dying to leave here, but playing in the NBA is another dream I have. During the next couple of months I hope to work out for NBA teams and get a more specific evaluation of where I would be positioned in this year’s draft. After I receive the information from the NBA teams, I will decide to either stay in the draft or come back for my junior year. Next week is exam time at UNC and that’s also important to me. I will continue to remain in good academic standing regardless of the decision that awaits me.”

Lawson has averaged 11.3 points and 5.4 assists in his first two seasons. The Clinton, Md., native directed an offense that was second nationally in scoring and led the ACC in scoring, field goal percentage, assists and assist-turnover ratio. He shot 51.5 percent from the floor and 83.5 percent from the free throw line this year and helped Carolina average 88.6 points per game en route to winning a school-record 36 games.

“I am applying for the 2008 NBA Draft, but not hiring an agent,” says Lawson. “I will work out for NBA teams to get a more precise evaluation of my draft status. After I do that and get more information from the teams, I will make a decision to either stay in the draft or come back to North Carolina for my junior year. I am in good standing academically and plan on doing a great job in my final exams.”

College players have until midnight Sunday to notify the NBA of their intention to declare for the draft, which will take place in New York on June 26.

The league’s pre-draft camp is scheduled for May 27-June 2 in Lake Buena Vista, Fla. Players are not permitted to work out with individual NBA teams until June 3 and may withdraw their names from the draft by 5 p.m. on June 16.

Since they guys are going to declare for the Draft, but will not hire agents, this gives them until June 16th to pull out of the draft and go back to Carolina. As a second option, Ty and Wayne can go through the draft and NOT sign, allowing them to go back to college but the team that drafted them will owns their rights.

While I am disheartened and saddened that such a fabulous team is losing two outstanding players, I understand that many times, young people (particularly young black men) feel an extreme amount of pressure to go to the League. I have known countless athletes who have spent a very long time trying to get to the highest level of performance in their respective sports, just so they can improve the lot for themselves and their families. How many people do YOU know who tried to use basketball to get out of the ‘hood? How many actually did? I don’t know the story of Ty’s or Wayne’s family. I can’t hate on a young dude trying to get to the League, especially when he has a viable chance of performing well at that level. I believe that Ty and Wayne can both perform in the NBA. They’ll always be Tarheels however, and I will be waiting for June 16th to see if they decided to stick around.