The reason we're going to see more underclassmen declare for the draft this season is because the NBA teams are allowed to pay for the travel and expenses for kids to travel to workouts.

In the past, there were some kids who couldn't afford to take 8-10 trips around the country for workouts. However, this year money is no object as players can criss-cross the country and not have to concern themselves with having to come up with the financial funds to pay for the trips.

FORD WITHDRAWS FROM MIX AT LSU

As I speculated after LSU named a new athletic director, ex-Duke AD Joe Alleva, things have changed down in Baton Rouge.

The former front-runner, UMass' Travis Ford, has now withdrawn his name from consideration - which likely meant that he didn't feel as though his chances were strong of getting the job.

"I would like make clear that I do not want to be considered for the head job at LSU," Ford said Tuesday night. "There has been a lot misinformation circulating about me and the job at LSU. I feel that it is necessary to state that I do not want to be considered for the job. "

We've been told that Butch Pierre, who took over after John Brady was fired, will interview later this week - and we've heard conflicting reports on whether Clemson's Oliver Purnell is in the mix. The latest is that Purnell is out of the equation and that Notre Dame's Mike Brey seems to be the flavor of the day.

We said it all along - Dan Parker the the LSU brass should have made one call: to VCU's Anthony Grant.

EBANKS SETS VISIT SCHEDULE

Former Indiana signee Devin Ebanks has set his visit schedule and it'll begin Friday when he heads to West Virginia. Then he'll go to Texas (April 25), Rutgers (May 2) and Memphis (May 9).

GONZO SAFE - FOR NOW

Seton Hall president Robert Sheeran released a statement that Bobby Gonzalez "is Seton Hall's coach and will continue to be our coach as we move ahead."

We'll see how this this lasts, though, because Gonzo is capable of doing just about anything that could quickly alter the situation.