Don't get me wrong; I wish them well, and I understand that kind of money is hard to say no to. But there is something wrong when you have a league that continues to bring in guys inexperienced and not ready to play at that level, and it results in a product that continues to get worse year after year.
To be perfectly honest, Raymond Felton is the only Tarheel that I am confident will have some success in the league. His ballhandling ability and competent decision making at point will help him stay in the league. However, it's ironic that the guy with the least amount of experience (Williams) will more than likely be the first Tarheel picked in the draft.
I don't know if the age limit that has been proposed will work (a good number of kids will just go semi-pro overseas or head to the NBDL) but something's got to give.
UPDATE: A good point by Adam Gold at 850TheBuzz. ESPN and all of these national sports reporters are so full of crap, claiming that they broke the story that all these guys were going to leave (including NBC-17 Raleigh, who claimed Williams was going to stay, which was hilarious considering he will have the highest pick of all of them).
The Buzz broke that story Tuesday Afternoon, and those fools fell in right behind them because they knew The Buzz is a local station and thus didn't have to acknowledge them nationally. Everyone in the Triangle knew these guys were going to leave, so it isn't news to us. You got to love how journalists take credit for stuff they didn't do (that goes for you too, Mitch Albom).