Recapping a busy week for UK: Part 3-Jodie Meeks and the NBA

The third of the four main issues (here are Part 1 and Part 2) on my mind regarding Kentucky basketball is Jodie Meeks future and his decision on whether or not to leave his name in the NBA Draft.

Jodie Meeks and the NBA – In my mind, Jodie Meeks could be the difference between a good UK team in 2010 and a great one. While Patrick Patterson’s early decision to return to UK was an incredible boost, I think Meeks makes a bigger difference on the court. UK was a poor shooting team last year (Michael Porter hit the second most 3′s on the team) and while Darius Miller, Jon Hood, and Darnell Dodson would likely be able to take up some of the hole left by Jodie, none provides the deep threat that Jodie does.

Jodie Meeks has just over two weeks (June 15) to make a decision on whether to leave his name in the Draft or return to UK, and his decision is far from made. He just completed the Draft combine in Chicago and still has about half of his workouts to finish before he makes a decision.

Before some clarification from Jodie himself this week, some people were thinking that Jodie would be content with a spot early in the second round. Meeks denied that, saying he would need to be told he was a top 25 pick in order to stay in the Draft.

I just don’t really see any way he achieves that, no matter how weak this Draft is compared with next year’s.