Chris Dudley 2.0?

Some interesting news on the Ivy League hoops scene today: Yale forward Greg Mangano has declared for the NBA Draft, according to CBSSports.com's Matthew Norlander. This seems to be a pretty ambitious jump for the junior big man, who shot just 40 percent in 18.4 minutes per game as a sophomore. There have been no reports as to whether he has hired an agent (which would require him to stay in the draft), but my guess is that he's just testing the waters, especially since this may be the weakest draft in a decade. Mangano has the option of undeclaring until May 8.

The West Haven, Conn., product appears to fall into the "late bloomer" category (though he was recruited by Notre Dame and Northwestern), as he started just seven games combined during his first two years. This season, however, he blossomed into a force on both ends of the court, posting a monster line of 16.3 points, 10.0 rebounds and 3.0 blocks to earn first-team all-Ivy honors. That compares favorably with the last NBA player from Yale, Chris Dudley, who put up 16.0/9.8/1.4 during his junior season (granted, it was against much stronger mid-'80s Ivy competition) on his way to a solid 16-year career in The League. The 6-foot-10 Mangano has the added advantage of being able to stretch the floor, as he shot 37 percent from beyond the arc in 2010-11. It's not difficult to envision him developing into a Matt Bonner/Jason Smith-type player, but not after another year of seasoning in college.

The addition of Mangano would put two Ancient Eighters in the NBA, with Harvard's Jeremy Lin being the other. After impressing in the Summer League, Lin played in 29 games for the Golden State Warriors and became a Bay Area folk hero. He dropped 12/5/5 in a season-high 24 minutes during the Warriors' final game, and may carve a niche in the league as a point guard with size.