lol everyone yes i will be back at Baylor for my senior year ! for those that have been asking/wondering
— Pierre Jackson (@PIerreJackson55) April 8, 2012
That's good news on this Easter Sunday for Baylor's MBB program. Most of the rumors about Jackson possibly leaving had subsided recently, so this was more of a confirmation of what people already expected than it was earth-shattering, but it's great news nonetheless. Baylor will now have Jackson, A.J. Walton, and freshman LJ Rose at the PG position next year with Gary Franklin (supposedly) able to do it, as well. Since the first two are both seniors, I hope that Rose can get worthwhile minutes running the offense so we don't experience too much of a dropoff the following year.
We're still waiting on Baylor's other two potential early-entrants to the NBA Draft this year to make their formal declarations, but from everything I've been told, Perry Jones III is all but gone. His family has well-documented financial issues stemming from a number of different causes (none of them sinister, I assure you), so it probably makes sense for him to go now and take the guaranteed money of the first round and the lottery. Considering how much he seems to love Baylor and the college life, I would be willing to bet that he would return if those financial issues didn't exist, which should probably put to rest any question of Scott Drew paying players. If you were going to pay someone, you'd pay to keep Perry Jones III in school.
Quincy Miller is in a much less certain situation in terms of the probability of his departure and his standing in the draft. The two things are undoubtedly related. He has supposedly been advised to leave if he believes he will be drafted in the first round, but significant questions about his athleticism coming off knee surgery and his inconsistent production this year make that a dicey proposition. Two weeks ago I would have said he was gone; all of the momentum pointed in that direction. Now, I'm not sure. I know he's spent the last two weekends hanging out with Isaiah Austin (once in Waco and once in DFW), and you would think that the existence of a relationship there may help him decide to stay with good friend/roommate Deuce Bello another year. My personal opinion is that he should; he will almost certainly be a focal point of Baylor's offense next season and will be able to continue rehabilitating his knee until he has back to 100%. I don't know that he will, though. We'll have to see.
The NCAA's "Early-Entry Withdrawal Deadline" is Tuesday, April 10. This deadline has never existed before this year, and if you want more information on it, DraftExpress has a good breakdown of the process here. I'm not entirely sure what it means at this point considering Anthony Davis's remarks last week that he really has until April 29, the NBA's Early Entry Eligibility Deadline, to decide. If he wanted to stay at Kentucky, could he remain in the Draft pool past 4/10 and then withdraw before 4/29? Why do the two organizations (NCAA and NBA) have different dates?
EDIT: I accidentally referred to Deuce Bello as "Quincy Bello" because I am a moron.