49 early entry candidates in NBA draft

NEW YORK, June 16 (UPI) -- North Carolina's Ty Lawson and Wayne Ellington are among 49 early entry players who are eligible for next week's NBA draft, the league said Tuesday.

Lawson and Ellison helped the Tar Heels to the 2009 NCAA Division I basketball title. Lawson, who was a junior last season, was the ACC's player of the year after averaging 16.6 points and 6.6 assists a game.

Ellison, who is also forgoing his senior season, averaged 15.8 points a game and was voted the Most Outstanding Player of the Final Four.

A total of 39 collegiate players, including national player of the year Blake Griffin from Oklahoma, and 10 international players remain eligible for the June 25 NBA draft. Another 35 U.S. and 20 international candidates pulled their names from draft consideration.

In addition to Lawson, Ellington and Griffin early entry players eligible for the 2009 NBA draft are: Pittsburgh's DeJuan Blair, Connecticut's Hasheem Thabeet, Louisville's Earl Clark, Duke's Gerald Henderson, Davidson's Stephen Curry, Memphis' Tyreke Evans, Arizona State's James Harden, Florida's Nick Calathes, Southern California's DeMar DeRozan, Taj Gibson and Daniel Hackett, the Syracuse's Jonny Flynn, Eric Devendorf and Paul Harris.