News from May 15.

The NBA released the official list of underclassmen who declared
themselves eligible for the NBA draft.  A couple who had a press
conference to declare themselves eligible changed their mind and are
returning to college (such as Chris Herren and Kenny Brunner).  Only
players on this list are early entry candidates.  The NBA draft takes
place June 24 in Vancouver.  These players have until June 17 to remove
their name as an early entry candidate.

  Player (class/age, position, college/team)
  Rafer Alston (junior, G, Fresno State)
  Corey Benjamin (sophomore, G, Oregon State)
  Mike Bibby (sophomore, G, Arizona)
  Chandar Bingham (sophomore, F, Virginia Union)
  Marcus Bullard (junior, G, Auburn-Montgomery)
  Vince Carter (junior, F-G, UNC)
  Wayne Clark (freshman, G, Dekalb Junior College (GA))
  Tim Cole (sophomore, G, Northeast Mississippi Community College)
  Peter Cornell (junior, F, Loyola Marymount)
  Arthur Davis (sophomore, G, St. Joseph's)
  Ricky Davis (freshman, G/F, Iowa)
  Bud Eley (F, Southeast Missouri State)
  Tremaine Fowlkes (junior, F, Fresno State)
  Al Harrington (high school senior, F, St. Patrick High School (NJ))
  Rico Harris (sophomore, F, Los Angeles City College)
  Larry Hughes (freshman, G, St. Louis University)
  Randell Jackson (junior, C, Florida State) 
  Jerome James (senior [with 1 year of eligibility left], C, Florida A&M)
  Antawn Jamison (junior, F, North Carolina)
  Marko Jaric (19 years old, F, Peristeri (Greece))
  Rashard Lewis (high school senior, F, Alief Elsik High School (TX))
  Tyronn Lue (junior, G, Nebraska)
  Sasa Markovic-Theodorakis (20 year old, C, Panionios (Greece))
  Jelani McCoy (junior, C, UCLA)
  Stanislav Medvedenko (19 year old, F, Budivelnik (Ukraine))
  Mark Miller (senior [with 1 year of eligibility left], G, Illinois-Chicago) 
  Nazr Mohammed (junior, F, Kentucky)
  Lee Nailon (junior, C, TCU)
  Dirk Nowitzki (19 years old, C, DJK Wurzburg (Germany))
  Lamar Odom (freshman, F, Rhode Island)
  Dimitris Papanikolaou (21 years old, F, Olympiakos (Greece))
  Paul Pierce (junior, F, Kansas)
  Ellis Richardson (high school senior, G, Polytechnic High School (CA))
  Adam Roberts (junior, G, San Francisco State)
  James Spears (junior, G, Shaw University)
  Bruno Sundov (18 years old, C, Split (Croatia))
  Robert Traylor (junior, F, Michigan) 
  Winfred Walton (sophomore, F, Fresno State)
  Jason Williams (junior, G, Florida)
  Korleone Young (high school senior, F, Hargrave Military Academy (VA))

Playground legend Earl "The Goat" Manigault died of congestive heart
failure.  He was 53.


Playoff Standings
  1st Round             2nd Round            3rd Round           Finals
  (Best of 5)           (Best of 7)          (Best of 7)       (Best of 7)
1 Utah (3)    _____
8 Houston (2)      |_ 1 Utah (4)        _
                    _ 5 San Antonio (1)  |
4 Phoenix (1)     _|                     |_ 1 Utah (0)      _
5 San Antonio (3)                         _ 3 LA Lakers (0)  |
                                         |                   |
2 Seattle (3)   ___                      |                   |
7 Minnesota (2)    |_ 2 Seattle (1)   ___|                   |
                    _ 3 LA Lakers (4)                        |
3 LA Lakers (3) ___|                                         |
6 Portland (1)                                               |_ __________
                                                              _ __________
                                                             |
1 Chicago (3)    __                                          |
8 New Jersey (0)   |_ 1 Chicago (4)   ___                    |
                    _ 4 Charlotte (1)    |                   |
4 Charlotte (3) ___|                     |                   |
5 Atlanta (1)                            |_ 1 Chicago (0) ___|
                                          _ 3 Indiana (0)   
2 Miami (2)    ____                      |
7 New York (3)     |_ 7 New York (1) ____|
                    _ 3 Indiana (4)
3 Indiana (3)   ___|
6 Cleveland (1)