Hansbrough, Lawson to return to North Carolina next season

April 10, 2007

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. (AP) -- Tyler Hansbrough and Ty Lawson will return to North Carolina next season instead of entering the NBA draft early.

"I've definitely decided that I will be back (for) my junior year," Hansbrough said Tuesday night after the team's annual awards ceremony. "Personally, I'm not ready for the next step of the NBA.

"Playing (another) year with coach (Roy) Williams will help me improve my game individually. There's also some team things that I want to accomplish. College is a great experience for me, and I'd like to be here another year."

Lawson, who had the best assist-turnover ratio in the Atlantic Coast Conference, announced he would return for his sophomore season by deadpanning a joke during the ceremony at the Dean Smith Center.

"I just like being a college basketball player," Lawson said after the ceremony.

They became the third Tar Heels this week to announce they would return for another season, joining shooting guard Wayne Ellington.

School spokesman Steve Kirschner said ACC rookie of the year Brandan Wright has not made his decision and would have no immediate comment. The early-entry deadline is April 29.

Williams said he doesn't expect Wright's decision before April 20 because the coach will spend much of the upcoming week visiting his son in London and "I know he's not going to do anything until I get back."

"Brandan, he is like a kid -- he's hoping if he ignores it, it'll go away," Williams said. "I told him it will not go away. He's not worrying about it. He's not stressing out over it. He has probably thought about it less than I could ever, ever imagine in that same scenario."

Wright had always been the most likely of the Tar Heels to leave early because of his size and shot-altering wingspan. The return of Hansbrough and Lawson wasn't a huge surprise -- both players had said they were leaning toward coming back next season.

Williams said Hansbrough and Lawson reached their decisions separately nearly two weeks earlier but kept silent "because I felt like it would put undue pressure on Brandan to make a decision quicker, but as we went along, it just got to be a situation where we needed to go ahead and say something so we could get everybody off their back."

Hansbrough was the ACC's fourth-leading scorer, its second-best rebounder and a consensus all-conference selection -- one of only four players in school history to be unanimously named all-ACC.

Lawson ranked fourth on the team in scoring, averaging 10.2 points, and his assist-turnover ratio of 2.57 was the best ever by a North Carolina freshman.

Lawson's announcement was notable for its comic timing -- it came during his acceptance speech after he was honored for leading the team in assists.

"After thinking about things, talking to my parents, I think it would be best if I took my skills to the NBA. I'm sorry," Lawson said.

Dead silence.

"I'm just playing -- I'll be back next year," Lawson quipped, drawing cheers from the crowd of about 1,000.

Hansbrough seemed to tip his hand by also cracking a joke during the ceremony.

"I cut a deal with coach (Roy) Williams before the banquet that I'd be back for my junior year only if he fired (assistant coach Joe) Holladay," Hansbrough joked, drawing laughter and applause from the crowd.

The Tar Heels (31-7) shared their ACC regular-season championship, won their first conference tournament since 1998 and were seeded No. 1 in the East Regional.

Their season ended in the East Regional finals -- blowing an 11-point lead to Georgetown.

Lawson said he will return "probably just to get better and go deeper in the NCAA tournament, live out the memories that we had this year."

Glad we can put this debate on hold for another 12 months...

Tyler Hansburger.

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Tyler must have read my post earlier today and decided to stay. Good decision by him.

Ty was ready - I am not sure what he will gain by staying.

Next years draft class has to be weaker almost by default. Also, he probably enjoys college.

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You do not talk to me like that! I work too hard to deal with this stuff! I work too hard! I'm an important member of the CSFMB! I drive a Dodge Stratus!

Other than hustle plays, tell me what kind of game Tyler brings to the NBA?

Now the Bulls can draft him with a mid 20's pick next year.

Not only that Nas, the guy was on one of the faster paced teams in the country last year and did not seem to have trouble keeping up. I don't think he is as slow and unathletic as people believe.

I don’t believe Hansbrough will be a bust. Actually, I think he’s a very safe & conservative pick (in the latter half of rd 1). He should be a decent bench player for a long time in this league. My problem is that, if all goes according to plan, we won’t have another lottery pick for a long time. And I don’t want to see our last shot at a bigtime prospect being used on a play-it-safe role player. We have plenty of those already. I’m willing to wager the risk for the potential reward on being aggressive with this pick. I would be fine with taking Tyler in the 2nd half of next year’s first round. Taking him in this year’s lottery, though, would have been very frustrating, for me at least.

I don't see many people clamoring for the Bulls to pick Alando Tucker from Wisconsin even though he can just play.

I could care less how high someone can jump. With a lottery pick, I want something more than a guy who my eyes tell me is limited. I can recall one stretch against Georgetown where he nailed a 15 footer and then missed three in a row and one of those was an airball. He's not super athletic so the quicker 4's in the NBA will eat him for lunch. He plays hard so I guess he could be the next Scott Pollard. He's a 6th man, maybe a starter on a bad team.

Oh how is Al better than Tyler, let me count the ways

- Horford has more of an NBA body with the long arms and big build
- Horford can play the 5 at the next level
- Horford has as much range on his jumper as Tyler
- Horford has better post moves right now
- Horford is a better shotblocker

Other than I just don't know....

Then I present to you a better alternative:

Nick Fazekias 21.8 ppg, 10.4 rpg

So does your supporting cast. The 2 most talented players on UNC are both freshman. Horford has upper classmen like Noah, Brewer, and Green all eating up points, rebounds, and assists as well.

What's funny here is that Tyler was outscored AND outrebounded by Jared Dudley, of the precious ACC. Despite this amazing accomplishment, Dudley is likely to get selected in the 2nd round, or perhaps not even get drafted at all.

In ACC games Dudley was a shade lower than Tyler, but the best player was Al Thornton from FSU was the best player in the ACC this past year. He's smaller than Tyler but outrebounded the next great thing from UNC.

In ACC play he averaged 23.5 ppg vs 19.8 for Tyler. On the glass, Al had 8.8 vs 8.6 for Tyler.

Stats don't lie, right Nas?

I thought it's the hips that don't lie
Now I'm confused

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“Mmmm. Move over, eggs. Bacon just got a new best friend - fudge.”

maybe it's Tyler's hips don't lie

That's because none of us believe Tyler is better than Horford. You're the one breaking out collegiate stats to compare prospects. I brought up Dudley because he posted better numbers than Hansbrough, despite the obvious that Tyler is the better basketball player. I figured that would lead you to put 2 and 2 together, that stats (especially at the amateur level) are not the be-all end-all in the debate.

This is getting cyclical and tiresome. How about a change of pace? 1 guy. Who is your big bust in the lottery? I'll start.

Roy Hibbert

I'll go with two:

Yi Jianlian - He's soft from all accounts. Can't bang for a 7 footer.

Jeff Green - Rudy Gay Syndrome, disappears in big games.

Is that true? I thought he had a reputation for coming up big in the big game (up until the final four)

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"Tubby? Oh yes, Tubby."

Big Baby. Although after scouts find out he is 6'6" he may not go high enough to be considered a bust.

I'll go with Acie Law.

You may be right. I may be crazy

But it might just be a lunatic you're looking for. Maybe Jeff Green is that lunatic.

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"Tubby? Oh yes, Tubby."

I don't think it will be Hibbert. His height alone will ensure him of no less than a 10 year NBA career. Oddly enough, if you want a Morgana sized bust, you have to look to the smaller players.

I didn’t mean to suggest he wouldn’t make a roster, GD. If you’re 7 feet tall and have opposable thumbs, you can collect a paycheck in the NBA. My personal opinion, however, is that whoever takes Hibbert is going to end up disappointed.

Or at least collect a check by announcing NBA games for the Bulls.

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"Tubby? Oh yes, Tubby."

I'm not afraid to admit it - Billy Joel is my guy!