Jared Sullinger says he's returning to Ohio State next season.

Mar 26, 2011 - Ohio State's Jared Sullinger is the first major NBA Draft prospect to say he'll stay in school instead of declaring himself eligible for the June pro pool. Sullinger's Buckeyes fell to Kentucky in the Sweet 16 on Friday night; the burly forward was fantastic in defeat, having the sort of game we've been accustomed to seeing. Sullinger scored 21 points and had 16 rebounds (eight offensive).

But after the game, Sullinger said he's coming back for another run at OSU. From SB Nation's Along The Olentangy:

Quote :

In a small but extremely notable consolation prize, Sullinger and [junior guard William] Buford said they would return next season to the Buckeyes, which could find themselves in the preseason top-5 if that scenario holds true. When pressed on whether he was making the commitment out of emotion or frustration, Sullinger told the media, "I made this decision today, and I'm a man of my word. I don't go against my word. If I tell somebody I'm going to do something, I'm going to do it."

Many players have claimed they'll come back in the immediate aftermath to a crushing loss, only to later change course. Sullinger will have plenty of temptation to enter the 2011 NBA Draft, as DraftExpress currently lists him at No. 4 on its Top 100 Prospects list; ESPN's Chad Ford has Sullinger in the same spot.

Sullinger and Arizona's Derrick Williams are the top domestic power forwards potentially in the draft pool; Perry Jones, Enes Kanter and Donatas Motiejunas will also be in the lottery mix at that position.
---------

Sully, Buford and almost definately Craft are staying but Dieb, Lauderdale and Lighty are all seniors and will be gone. I dont think the teams gonna be good enough to get a 1 seed or win the whole thing next year.
But maybe Buford can regain my trust. Maybe.

Oh, well

I thought he was going to enter the draft...

He'll beast again in the NCAA, no doubt about that. It could be a smart move though.

It might be cause of the emotions of the loss he said that so there is still a possibility he might go pro

Still it sucks cause he's a great player and the draft isnt exactly that deep as of right now anyways

Any player with common sense would stay in college

Chosen One wrote:

It might be cause of the emotions of the loss he said that so there is still a possibility he might go pro

Still it sucks cause he's a great player and the draft isnt exactly that deep as of right now anyways

If he stays I think its good news for the Cavs. Won't get suckered into drafting him, at least this year, cause I dont think he's gonna be a good pro.

This draft just went from terrible to all-time terrible. Unbelievable...the one guy who had a chance of being an instant star in this draft decides to stay another year. Except for Norris Cole. He's an instant star

Kyrie Irving, Enes Kanter, Terence Jones, Derrick Williams, and Brandon Knight are all gonna be good to great pros.
Alec Burks, Perry Jones and a couple of the other foreign peole all have potential to be good pros.
David Lighty is gonna be one of the best glue guys in the league. Mainly cause he's from Ohio State...
and Norris Cole is gonna be a supertar.
I dont think this draft is gonna be terrible. Might not be good... but its not gonna be terrible.

Norris Cole will have one of the best rookie season in the NBA History...he'll be just that good

Jesus jr. wrote:

Any player with common sense would stay in college

So John Wall has no common sense?

I believe the possibility (almost certainty of a) future NBA lockout is a reason why players will stay an extra year in school. Why go pro into a situation where you will not make much money?

A good number of pro prospects will stay and hope they become college legends without paying a price like Da'sean Butler did. Some will go pro and hire an agent, and deal with the consequences later.