North Carolina junior guard Wayne Ellington, of Episcopal Academy, will enter the NBA draft.

Ellington, the most outstanding player of the Final Four, announced his plans at a news conference this afternoon in Chapel Hill, along with junior point guard Ty Lawson. UNC won the national championship earlier this month in Detroit by beating Villanova in the national semifinals and Michigan State in the title game.

Last season, Ellington and Lawson declared for the draft before returning to school. Ellington averaged 16 points per game last season for the Tar Heels. Lawson averaged 17 points.

I’m not smart enough to know whether Scottie Reynolds is good enough to play in the NBA. Right now, or ever. I know what I see, and what I hear. And in my opinion, he’s not ready yet. And may never be. And that’s OK. Because in my book, he’s one of the favorite people I’ve ever had the privilege to cover. So I’m pulling for him, even though I’ll miss him dearly when he’s gone. Whether that’s now or after his senior season at Villanova.

What makes Scottie great is the way he handles himself. At least around us, the media. He’s always there. It doesn’t matter if he shot 9-for-10, or went 4-for-15. He’s always thoughtful, insightful, honest. We can’t ask for any more.

And as far as being a teammate, I don’t think Jay Wright could ask for anything more. Kelvin Sampson’s screw-up at Oklahoma was the best thing that could have ever happened to the Main Line. As a college player, you won’t find many better. No, he’s not first-team all-Big East. So what? The conference has some pretty good talent, last time I looked. He could play for my squad any time. I’m sure Jay Wright wouldn’t trade him for too many others. If he does come back, he’s going to score over 2,000 points. Easily. That’s not too shabby. Yet there are always going to be those who criticize him for what he supposedly isn’t. And that’s a shame.

I’m just not sure how well Scottie’s game translates to the next level. But I’ve been wrong before. And I hope I’m wrong again. Because that’s his dream, as it should be. You always want to see the good people succeed. So maybe he’ll make it there. Or maybe he’ll play overseas for the next decade or so, which isn’t a horrible option. I just wish him the best, because he deserves it.

From a selfish standpoint, I wouldn’t mind seeing him hang around for one more year. Because he’s fun to watch, and a pleasure to be around. And makes all our jobs easier. But it’s not about us. It’s about a young man who’s well grounded, and his future. He’s doing the right thing. He has nothing to lose by testing the waters. Maybe he’ll find out that the interest just isn’t there. Or he’ll be told what he needs to do to make it a year from now. Or maybe he’ll have the kind of workouts and interviews that will make one team, or even more than one, want him immediately. Because all it takes is one. And knowing Scottie, I wouldn’t put it past him to surprise us all.

If the worst thing that happens is he plays here as a senior, then it is indeed a win-win for him. And who would ever question the motivation. He’d be a fool not to take advantage of this opportunity. It could make him a lot of money. I simply hope he doesn’t wind up leaving his name in the pool, and then either doesn’t get drafted or ends up going to a franchise where the prospects just aren’t in his favor.

Whatever happens, now or 12 months down the road, I’ll always carry the picture of him taking a pass from Dante Cunningham near midcourt against Pitt in the East Regional final, dribbing four times and making that short jumper in traffic to send Villanova to the final weekend for the first time in a quarter-century.

I’m hardly alone.

So how exactly do you say thanks?
 

La Salle will be among eight teams in the Charleston Classic, Nov. 19-22 in Charleston, S.C.

The event, hosted by the Southern Conference, features eight teams competing in 12 games over three days.

Joining La Salle are Miami (Fla.), UNC Wilmington, Penn State, South Carolina, South Florida, Tulane and a team to be announced.

The eighth team, tournament parings and television coverage will be announced at a later date.
 

Villanova junior guard Scottie Reynolds has decided to enter his name into the NBA draft.

Reynolds does not plan to hire an agent, meaning he could withdraw and return for his senior season.

“Scottie and I have decided that it would be smart for him to experience NBA workouts at this time,” coach Jay Wright said in a statement. “This will enable him to assess where he fits in the draft process this year and give him a better understanding of what it takes to play at that level.

“Scottie is completing all of his spring semester classes and is not hiring an agent. He will be working closely with our NCAA compliance staff so that he can return for his senior year if that is the path he chooses.”

The 6-2 Reynolds averaged 15.2 points per game in helping lead the Wildcats to the Final Four in Detroit. He has scored 1,620 points in three seasons at Villanova (15.3 ppg), which places him 15th on the school’s all-time list.

“Coach and I have been talking about this for a couple of weeks,” Reynolds said. “We came to the decision that it would be best to put my name into the draft.

“I will continue going to my classes. But on the basketball court, I am doing this with 100 percent effort. It’s not just about going through the experience. I want to prepare myself in the best way I can and make the most of this opportunity.”

In the end, the voters looked at the individual and not the teams when they voted for Big 5 Player of the Year.

The Robert V. Geasey Award is not an MVP award, not an award based on team accomplishments. It is an award that goes to what the voters deem the Most Outstanding Player in the Big 5. This season, the voters determined that it was senior Ahmad Nivins, of Saint Joseph’s.

Nivins averaged 19.2 points and 11.8 rebounds (sixth nationally) for the Hawks while shooting 61.2 percent (also sixth nationally). He was 200-for-254 (78.7 percent) from the foul line and also found time to block 56 shots. It was, quite simply, one of the greatest statistical seasons in city history.

That Nivins was on a team that had some obvious deficiencies was not held against him. In fact, the voters probably noted that he was often double and triple teamed, a circumstance that no doubt impacted his touches, scoring average and still terrific shooting percentage.

Given how many strong performances there were in the city this season, the voters had to decide what mattered most to them. In the end, they determined that Nivins was the best player.

Joining Nivins on the first team are seniors Dante Cunningham and Dionte Christmas (Temple) along with juniors Scottie Reynolds (Villanova) and Rodney Green (La Salle).
 

Saint Joseph's forward Ahmad Nivins has been invited to the Portsmouth Invitational.

Nivins, the Atlantic 10 player of the year, is among 64 seniors invited to the four-day  camp, which begins Wednesday.

Nivins averaged 19.2 points and 11.7 rebounds and shot a conference-best 61.2 percent from the field.

Three other A-10 players also will compete: Rhode Island's Jimmy Baron, Duquesne's Aaron Jackson and Xavier's B.J. Raymond.

The Portsmouth Invitational Tournament. is the only tournament for college seniors to be evaluated by the NBA before the league's pre-draft camp in Orlando.

DETROIT - The effort always worked. The arithmetic never did.

With just under five minutes left in last night’s national semifinal, North Carolina had attempted 21 three pointers, Villanova 25. The Tar Heels had made 11, the Wildcats three. The margin on the scoreboard was 18 points. The margin from the three-point line was 21 points.

Effort can overcome many things. It cannot overcome that.

And, with just three teams still in play for the 2009 national championship, it was not going to work for Villanova, the 63rd team to leave the 65-team NCAA Tournament. That the Cats got this far is part of a quite amazing bigger picture.

This 83-69 Carolina win was about long shots made and long shots missed, a snapshot over 40 minutes. Was it Ford Field? Was it UNC’s defense? Was it Final Four nerves? Was it too few drives to the rim and too many launches from distance?

Probably some of all that.

Ford Field, for sure.

All of these Villanova players were here last year for that Sweet 16 loss to eventual national champion Kansas. They didn’t make any threes (or much of anything else) that night either.

In two games at Ford Field, Villanova is 47-for-138 overall (34.1 percent) and 8-for-44 (18.2 percent) from the arc. Last night, it was 26-for-79 (32.9 percent) and 5-for-27 (18.5 percent).

For the game, UNC outscored `Nova from the two lines by a total of 28 points, 18 from the arc and 10 from the foul line. The miracle was that Villanova was always sort of within shouting distance where a great finish could have gotten them there.

But every time you thought that was possible, Wayne Ellington (five treys) Danny Green (four treys) or Ty Lawson (two treys) would knock in another deflating bomb. In the end, it was all just too much to overcome.

``You don’t have to make shots to win a ballgame,’’ said Villanova’s super tough sophomore Corey Fisher. ``You can go get stops, rebound, do the little things,’’

That would work against most opponents, just not this opponent.

Not on a night when Fisher, Scottie Reynolds and Dwayne Anderson combine to shoot 13-for-49.

``They just hit shots,’’ Anderson said. ``As a player, certain nights you shoot well, other nights you don’t. That’s something that we try to pride ourselves on. Even when shots don’t fall, we still try to find a way to win. Today, we didn’t a find a way to win.’’

Asking why shots don’t go in is like asking for the secret to life. Sometimes, they just don’t.

``For a player, that’s very tough (when shots don’t fall),’’ Anderson said. ``But that’s something that I learned over four years, that you still have to have the confidence. For example, the great players, they can miss all game, but they still want to take that last shot.’’

Shots go in. Shots stay out.

You win. You lose.

You get to the Final Four. You have that forever.
 

DETROIT – Last year, Villanova made it to the Sweet 16, came to Ford Field and lost big to Kansas, which went on to win the national title.

Tonight, in the same venue, the Wildcat’s first Final Four appearance in 24 years ended much the same way. They lost to the preseason No. 1 team in the country, North Carolina, 83-69.

The Wildcats (30-8), who tied the school record for regular-season victories and set the school record for overall wins, fell behind early and never really recovered. It’s one thing to trail American at the Wachovia Center by 14 with 19 minutes to go. It’s another to spot the Tar Heels (33-4) a 17-point advantage after 13 minutes.

Still, the deficit was only nine at halftime. And with 18 minutes to go, it was down to five. But Villanova would miss its next 11 shots, and Carolina went back up by a dozen by the 14/12-minute mark.

The Wildcats would never get it under a dozen the rest of the way.

They’d beaten UCLA (by 20), Duke (by 23) and Pittsburgh at the buzzer to get here. This time, they just ran into a better team.

The Tar Heels will now play Michigan State (31-7) in Monday night’s championship game. The Spartans got there by upsetting Connecticut (31-5) in the opening game, by nine. They’d beaten another Big East team, Louisville, in the regional final by double digits.

North Carolina and MSU met in early December in this building. The Heels won by 30. But two Spartan starters were out at the time.

Carolina, which had lost five of its last six national semifinals, is going for its second title in five years. When the Heels won in 2005, they beat Villanova in the Sweet 16, with the help of a controversial call.

The last time MSU was in the final, in 2000, it took home the nets.

Villanova will say goodbye to four seniors, three of which played major roles: Dante Cunningham, Dwayne Anderson and Shane Clark. Jay Wright will welcome one of the top recruiting classes in the nation next year.

“We were like a boxer that didn’t have anything left,” said Jay Wright. “ (North Carolina) didn’t, either. But they had the lead.”

It meant everything. Tyler Hansbrough went to the UNC bench with his fourth foul with 8:09 showing. The Tar Heels led by 14. By the time he returned, at 3:47, it was still a 12-point game.

The Wildcats took 17 more shots, but had only one more field goal to show for it. They had 22 offensive rebounds, but couldn’t convert enough of those second chances into points.

Carolina missed 15 of its 37 free throws, including 10 in the second half. Didn’t matter. The Heels made 11 of 22 from the arc. The Cats went 5-for-27.

Four UNC players scored in double digits, led by Ty Lawson’s 22. He also had 8 assists and 7 rebounds. Hansbrough had 18, to go with 11 boards. Wayne Ellington, who did most of his damage early, finished with 20, plus 9 boards and 4 assists. It’s pretty much what they do. They haven’t won by less than double digits throughout this tournament.

The Wildcats also put four players in doubles. Scottie Reynolds, who will be back, had 17 points on 6-for-18 shooting. He added five assists and just one turnover in 34 minutes. Dante Cunningham had 12 and 12. Corey Fisher, who’s only a sophomore, had 13 points and 7 boards in 25 minutes off the bench. But he shot 5-for-19. Dwayne Anderson, playing his last game, had 11 boards but shot 2-for-12. He and Cunningham fouled out in the late going.

“It’s hard to put it into perspective right now, because it hurts,” said Anderson. “But we know we’ve accomplished a lot, as a team and as a group of seniors. And 20 years from now, when we get together, we’ll have some great memories to talk about. I think people will remember us.”