AshtonGibbs2Just two weeks ago, Ashton Gibbs appeared to be brutally close to signing with an agent and bringing a firm end to his collegiate career.

And just over 24 hours before the 11:59 p.m. Sunday deadline for underclassmen testing the NBA draft waters to pull their names out, Gibbs officially changed courses.

The Pitt junior guard, who led the Panthers in scoring this year and established himself as one of the nation's most dangerous 3-point shooters, withdrew his name from that pool and will be back as a senior.

"The NBA can wait a year," Gibbs said in a prepared statement. "I look forward to continuing the success that we've established here at Pitt and finish my collegiate career with all of my teammates and fellow senior Nasir Robinson. It will also be extra special to earn my degree."

No one was really projecting Gibbs as a first round pick, and the decision to come back seems like a no-brainer. His outside shot will give him at least the same shot next year at a spot in the big show as

TerrenceJones2

There was never a concern about Kentucky being short on talent next season, but one tweet on Saturday afternoon gave them another dose of it along with valuable experience for the 2011-12 campaign.

Freshman swingman Terrence Jones announced via Twitter that he's returning to UK for his sophomore year. That news came a day after fellow frosh Brandon Knight made it known that he was keeping his name in the draft. Still, with Jones's return, it means that along with classmate Doron Lamb, John Calipari will bring back a healthy portion of last year's elite recruiting class to go along with the one that's coming in.

The 2011 crop for UK includes three players — power forward Anthony Davis, small forward Mike Gilchrist and point guard Marquis Teague — who were all ranked in the Top 5 in Rivals.com's final Top 150 rankings. The fourth member of the class is — shocking — another McDonald's All-American in Canadian power forward Kyle Wiltjer.

But what Jones coming back ensures for Kentucky is

Gus

In short, the NCAA tournament experience for college basketball fans watching on TV is taking a significant hit.

And it's a complete shame.

According to a Thursday story on SI.com, Gus Johnson, who in recent years has established himself as the guy everyone wants calling the end of a close game, will not be back with CBS.

The two sides failed to reach a new deal, ending a relationship that's been going strong since 1998. Johnson also worked as a play-by-play voice for CBS's NFL coverage, but became a cult icon among college basketball fans during the NCAA tournament over the past several seasons.

Sports Illustrated's Richard Deitsch reports that Johnson was a candidate for the NFL Network's play-by-play job on its Thursday night broadcasts, but that gig went to ESPN's Brad Nessler. He's also spoken recently with FOX Sports regarding a spot covering college football.

One way or another, Johnson will be fine in the end, landing a high-profile job with someone, somewhere. Heck, he has a

JohnCalipari

The NBA draft's early entrants who chose not to sign with agents right away, but rather test the waters, are truly on the clock once the April 24 deadline to declare passes.

They have until just May 8 to gather their information from NBA personnel before making an ultimate decision.

Kentucky coach John Calipari, who while at UK will likely deal with this scenario every year he's in Lexington with his never-ending streams of high-profile freshmen, is helping his guys out by essentially taking the idea of a college football Pro Day and moving it to the hardwood.

It's called the Kentucky Combine, and it'll take place at the team's practice facility — the Joe Craft Center — on May 2 and 3.

The only way for players to get information from NBA folks before April 28, no matter how early they declared without an agent, is through their college coaches. After April 28, there's no more middleman, but this eliminates the need for a whirlwind travel schedule all across the country in order to

PerryJones

With the NBA draft's deadline for early entrants to announce their intentions having now passed, there are some decisions that are likely to be second-guessed for the next calendar year.

The jury is still out for these eight …

Perry Jones III, freshman forward, Baylor — Returning to school

Jones is ready to go to the next level, and in this draft, he's all but a guaranteed lottery pick. Scouts have thought this of him for more than a year now. His decision to come back, though, is not nearly the same as that of Ohio State's Jared Sullinger, who heads up a team pegged already as a national championship contender. Baylor is off of an underwhelming 18-13 season, and will again have a thin backcourt in 2011-12. It's tough to tell how much — if anything — Jones stands to gain by going back to Waco.

Josh Selby, freshman guard, Kansas — Entered draft, hired agent

It's sad, actually, how much Selby was hurt by the rule in place forcing top prep seniors to wait a year before heading to the

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BYU basketball is headed into the post-Jimmer Era, but got a potentially big boost late this week that should soften the blow.

Sophomore forward Brandon Davies was dismissed from the team in early March following a violation of the school's honor code that involved engaging in premarital sex. The matter quickly turned into a national hot-button issue.

According to reports, Davies completed his winter semester work on Thursday, then withdrew from school. However, he said he hopes to re-enroll and again join the team in the fall.

BYU spokeswoman Carri Jenkins said that Davies is working with the dean of students, attempting to meet certain conditions that would allow him to be back on campus as a student and power forward.

"There's a pretty long list of people that I'd like to thank who are helping me through this difficult time," Davies said in a school-released statement. "It's been very hard emotionally, but thanks to the love and support of many, I'll be able to get through it.

JimLarranaga

In one of the more shocking twists on this year's college basketball coaching carousel, Jim Larranaga is heading from George Mason to Miami.

No, the 61-year-old is not retiring to South Beach. He's taking over one of the ACC's perennial underachievers.

It might not come as such a surprise had Larranaga not spent 14 seasons at George Mason, having even interviewed for the vacant position at his alma mater — Providence — in 2008. He seemed destined to retire there.

He got George Mason on the map with an out-of-nowhere 2006 Final Four run, and the program has remained solid ever since. The Patriots this season went 27-7, won the CAA regular season title and advanced to the second round of the NCAA tournament.

But this move appears to have some deeper roots.

Larranaga gets a raise from an annual salary of $525,000 (he made $700,000 after hitting several incentives last season) to reportedly in the neighborhood of $1 million at Miami. The Washington Post reports that since the end of the

TristanThompson

With several big-name underclassmen announcing their intentions to stay in school for another year over the past two weeks, it likely became too tempting for Texas freshman forward Tristan Thompson to not make the leap.

Thompson said not long after the Longhorns' season again ended with a controversial NCAA tourney loss to Arizona that he planned on coming back along with fellow Canadian frosh Cory Joseph for his sophomore season. Those plans changed on Thursday.

The Austin American Statesman reported that at last week's annual team banquet, he said that if he entered the draft, it would include immediately signing with an agent.

But it's hard to blame him for going, especially after seeing how the rest of the field of underclassmen has unfolded over the past few weeks.

Several mock drafts list Thompson as a likely mid-first round pick, and his lone season is Austin was enough to get scouts drooling. He was Texas's second-leading scorer (13.1 ppg), but drew much of his high praise for