NBA could seek Tar Heel stars

RALEIGH, N.C. — North Carolina easily could be the favorite to win the national championship again. Then again, the Tar Heels might not even be picked to win the Atlantic Coast Conference.

Such is the predicament facing coach Roy Williams, who has one of the top recruiting classes in the country coming to Chapel Hill next season. For now, that's all he knows for sure.

Williams anticipates guard Rashad McCants will skip his senior year to enter the NBA draft, although no announcement has been made. Fellow juniors Sean May and Raymond Felton have the same decision to make — as does talented freshman Marvin Williams — after leading North Carolina to its first NCAA title since 1993.

"Winning a championship is great, but everybody wants to know if a guy can play or not," said Ryan Blake, the NBA's assistant scouting director. "You can look at poise and the way guys step up, but those are just other avenues for somebody to be evaluated."

May is adamant he's coming back despite a marvelous individual run through the tournament. In those six consecutive victories, he averaged 22.3 points and 10.7 rebounds while shooting 67 percent.

Twice he made all but one of his shots from the field, including a 10-for-11 performance against Illinois in the final. He finished with 26 points and 10 rebounds in that game, giving him 15 double-doubles in the last 20 games.

At the title celebration, fans chanted for "one more year." May told them to save their breath because he planned to stay.

"To be honest, his stock will probably never be higher than it is right now," said Chris Monter, who publishes an NBA draft newsletter five times a year and also edits a Web site devoted to college basketball. "He had a great tournament, he has good, soft hands, and he really knows low-post positioning."

Marvin Williams never started in his first year with the Tar Heels, but he was the first one off the bench to give them a dominating rotation of inside players. He scored about 11 points a game, and he had the go-ahead tip in the championship game.

At this point, he might decide to follow Carmelo Anthony, who led Syracuse to the national title as a freshman before turning pro.

"I think Marvin is a very well-known player, even though he wasn't a starter. That one year really helped him," Monter said.