With less than three weeks remaining before the early entry withdrawl deadline for the NBA Draft, Missouri coach Mike Anderson doesn’t know the fate of forward DeMarre Carroll.

Carroll is the only remaining Missouri player in the NBA Draft pool, and has until June 16 – 10 days before the draft – to withdraw his name and return to school. Anderson, who is also Carroll’s uncle, said he’s hopeful Carroll will return for his senior season. Carroll did not hire an agent, a move that would have made him ineligible to return.

“I think he understands that a senior year could be a tremendous benefit for him,” Anderson said from the Big 12 spring meetings in Colorado Springs last week. “He’s got a chance to be one of the leaders on our basketball team, so I think at the end of the day he’ll make the right decision.”

Junior forward Leo Lyons pulled his name from the draft on May 9, just two weeks after entering, despite leading the charge in talks about going pro. Anderson said he didn’t begrudge either player looking at professional options, but said he did everything he could to give them the information to make the right decision.

Neither Lyons nor Carroll was invited to the prestigious pre-draft camp in Orlando this week, though Anderson said Carroll was invited to work out with several NBA teams. The NCAA allows NBA teams to fit the bill for workouts of players who haven’t hired agents.

“At the end of the day, most kids, whether it be Leo or DeMarre, they want to be the best player they can be,” Anderson said. “The rules allow guys to test the waters… DeMarre told me his plans before the end of the season and I was OK with it. Now, he’ll know what he needs to work on and I’m confident he’ll take that advice and make the right decision.”