1. This is NBA draft week and no one knows 100 percent who the No. 1 pick will be or whether Cleveland will keep the selection. This is not the norm. The Cavs could pull off a surprise and go with Maryland's Alex Len, stick with the original perception a few months ago of Nerlens Noel or choose among three guards in Ben McLemore, Otto Porter or Victor Oladipo. The Cavs have had plenty of options for the No. 1 pick but the conversations have never really gotten too serious -- yet. The players at the top of the draft aren't coveted enough to warrant a massive trade for that pick. Of course, this is a fluid situation. Dallas' No. 13 is the pick that is the hottest on the market at this juncture. There are a number of safe picks for teams and they include Gonzaga's Kelly Olynyk, who is perceived to be ready to contribute next season. Teams can't wait for the 2014 draft, which means college players will be heading out in a year in droves.
2. On Friday, we'll take our annual look at the players who declared for the NBA draft early who didn't go high enough or weren't drafted at all. There are four days to see if opinions change. but there's a good chance that the following players will wake up Friday morning and have a harder time making a team. I could be wrong. We shall see if Vander Blue (Marquette), Andre Roberson (Colorado), Adonis Thomas (Memphis), DeShaun Thomas (Ohio State), Phil Pressey (Missouri), Marshawn Powell and B.J. Young (Arkansas) will be satisfied with their decisions. Among this list, Roberson would have had maybe the best chance to improve his stock had he returned to the Buffaloes with a real shot to be one of the top rebounders in college basketball. Blue would have been a strong candidate to be Big East player of the year (behind Creighton's Doug McDermott) while Thomas of Ohio State could have challenged for the honor in the Big Ten.
3. NC State is going through a rebuild but that hasn't stopped coach Mark Gottfried from putting together quite a challenging slate on the eve of a 15-team ACC that now includes Syracuse, Pitt and Notre Dame. The Wolfpack's final game added was at Tennessee in a home-and-home series. The Wolfpack also go to Cincinnati and play at UNC Greensboro. Home games include Missouri, Northwestern, Florida Gulf Coast, Detroit, Long Beach State, East Carolina and Eastern Kentucky, anticipated to be high RPI games. That all comes on the heels of losing five of the top six scorers. Meanwhile, Tennessee plays at Xavier, is in the Battle 4 Atlantis where Kansas is the other marquee team, goes to Wichita State and plays Virginia at home along with NC State. The Volunteers picked up a major transfer in Memphis' Antonio Barton. But the Vols won't put in his waiver to play immediately as a graduate transfer until he finishes his degree with the Tigers.