Chris Smith returning to UCLA, making Bruins possible Pac-12 favorites

UCLA forward Chris Smith is withdrawing from the NBA Draft, making the Bruins possible favorites in the Pac-12 next season.

Smith's father, Sean, told the Los Angeles Times that "Chris is returning to school due to too much uncertainty on both sides of the coin; he’ll finish his degree and work to improve in the areas he needs to improve on."

UCLA now returns all five starters from a team that made a major midseason adjustment to first-year coach Mick Cronin, winning seven of its final eight games to finish in second place at 12-6 last season and 19-12 overall.

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Among other Pac-12 contenders next season, ASU will now return Remy Martin but Stanford lost Tyrell Terry from an otherwise veteran team.

All NBA Draft decisions among Pac-12 players are now final. Among teams thad had players on the fence entering Monday's deadline to withdraw, the "winners" were UCLA, ASU and OSU (Ethan Thompson), while Stanford lost Tyrell Terry, and WSU lost CJ Elleby. Colorado was a split decision, losing Tyler Bey but not McKinley Wright.

UCLA, ASU and Oregon are likely to be picked to finish in the top three spots for next season, with Stanford, Colorado, Utah, USC and Arizona all in a wave behind them.