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First, Muhammad's age matters because he's been dominating younger guys in high school for years. Scouts would have scouted and ranked him differently had they know his true age. Second, when our own John Hollinger put together his draft rater years ago, he found age to be a big factor in determining pro success. Combine that with a tough shooting night in an opening-round loss to Minnesota (Muhammad was 6-for-18 from the field), and this isn't how Muhammad wanted to end his college career -- with questions about both his basketball game and his character. ESPN.com

Draft, Shabazz Muhammad 

Ken Bensinger: Shabazz Muhammad, postgame, denies telling people he was 19. "I always tell people I'm 20." Twitter

Draft, Shabazz Muhammad 

Bill Ingram: One NBA exec told me yesterday that Muhammad's age discrepancy should 'absolutely' impact his draft status. Evaluation vs peers is key. Twitter @TheRocketGuy

Draft, Shabazz Muhammad 

Muhammad could touch the middle of the lottery in a development that would have been tough to envision when he opened the season as a mega-recruit already projected as a scoring weapon in the NBA, and it will not be because of a birth certificate. It will be because of his play. "I'd like to see if he can pass the ball," one scout said, the implication being that it doesn't happen, before adding, "He's a scorer, not a shooter." Muhammad works on volume, in other words, not efficiency. "He doesn't really make anybody better," an executive said. "He is athletic. And he can score in a lot of ways. But I'm not sure what he does for everyone around him." NBA.com

Draft, Shabazz Muhammad 

One general manager, expressing the same concerns and coming up with other twists of semantics to diplomatically call Muhammad selfish, called Muhammad a "really talented kid." But also noted that "some nights he looks like the No. 15 pick." NBA.com

Draft, Shabazz Muhammad 

Kentucky spokesman DeWayne Peevy told SNY.tv Friday that there is no official list of which players will return to campus next year, but freshmen Willie Cauley-Stein, Archie Goodwin and Alex Poythress have all said they plan on returning. Freshman big man Nerlens Noel has yet to announce his plans, but he is projected as one of the top couple picks in the 2013 draft, along with Kansas’s Ben McLemore, Indiana’s Cody Zeller, Oklahoma State’s Marcus Smart and UCLA’s Shabazz Muhammad. “If the three players come back (Poythress, Goodwin and Cauley-Stein), they could have eight first-round picks on the same team…unreal!” the Director of Scouting said. ZagsBlog.com

Draft, Shabazz Muhammad, Nerlens Noel, Alex Poythress, Willie Cauley-Stein, Ben McLemore, Archie Goodwin 

Scott Howard-Cooper: The real problem isn't that Shabazz Muhammad faked his age. It's the NBA killing him for selfish play. Much bigger blow to his draft stock. Twitter @SHowardCooper

Draft, Shabazz Muhammad 

Scott Howard-Cooper: Muhammad was getting buzz as the possible No. 1 at the start of the season. Now it's questionable whether he makes the top five. Twitter @SHowardCooper

Draft, Shabazz Muhammad 

According to the UCLA men's basketball media guide, he was born in Los Angeles on Nov. 13, 1993. But a copy of Shabazz Nagee Muhammad's birth certificate on file with the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health shows that he was born at Long Beach Memorial Hospital exactly one year earlier, making him 20 years old — not 19 as widely reported. Los Angeles Times

Draft, Shabazz Muhammad 

How and when he lost a year of his life are unclear. But competing against younger, smaller athletes, particularly in the fast-growing years of early adolescence, can be "a huge edge," said Eddie Bonine, executive director of the Nevada Interscholastic Activities Assn. "People naturally look at the big, strong kids." Asked about the discrepancy, Holmes insisted his son was 19 and born in Nevada. "It must be a mistake," he said. Several minutes later, he changed his account, saying that his son is, in fact, 20 and was born in Long Beach. Los Angeles Times

Draft, Shabazz Muhammad 

Chad Ford: Not saying Muhammad won't be a Top 10 pick. Just changes the evaluation a bit. Lying about your age doesn't help w/ character eval either. Twitter @chadfordinsider

Draft, Shabazz Muhammad 

Holmes expressed concern about disclosure of his son's true age and his own criminal record and questioned whether either was newsworthy. He followed up with a text message. "Bazz is going to blow up in the NBA lets team up and blow this thing up!!!" Holmes wrote to this reporter. "I'm going to need a publicist anyway why shouldn't it be you. We can do some big things together." Los Angeles Times

Draft, Shabazz Muhammad 

Chad Ford: Muhammad's age matters because: 1. He's been dominating younger guys in high school for years. Changes how he would've been scouted/ranked Twitter @chadfordinsider

Draft, Shabazz Muhammad 

There are some scouts that think another off-guard, UCLA’s Shabazz Muhammad, has the best shot at NBA stardom of any player in the draft. Muhammad had a decent freshman year, averaging 17.8 points on 44.7 percent shooting (40.0 percent on 3s). If McLemore isn’t more assertive and Muhammad has a good tournament, the draft gap between the two figures to close some. McLemore has the seeding on his side. Kansas is a No. 1 seed, while UCLA is a No. 6 and opens with a tough one against Minnesota. Sporting News

Draft, Shabazz Muhammad 

On Monday, Howland didn't step back from those comments, but he did admit to having some regret about how he handled the situation, given the fact that he hadn't talked to Muhammad about his draft stock. "I'm sometimes too honest because it would have been better to have answered that question differently the other day because I've never discussed it with Shabazz," Howland said. "It's just kind of obvious when a kid is a lottery pick that they're going to be going to the NBA in this day and age." Orange County Register

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Muhammad is almost certain to be drafted in the lottery and could even be taken with a pick as high as the top five. That sort of buzz, according to Howland, should probably convince any player to declare for the draft. "It’s incumbent upon me as the coach here, if a kid is a top ten pick, to encourage him to do the right thing for him and his family," Howland said. "And in my opinion, almost without question, if someone is a lottery pick, he should go to the NBA." Orange County Register

Draft, Shabazz Muhammad 

UCLA freshman Shabazz Muhammad played his last game in Pauley Pavilion on Saturday night in a 74-69 victory against No. 11 Arizona, Bruins coach Ben Howland said after the game. Muhammad is a projected NBA lottery pick and it long has been assumed he'd leave college after one season, but Howland confirmed the obvious after his team moved back into a tie for first place in the Pac-12 Conference. The Bruins finish the season with road games next week at Washington State and Washington, meaning Saturday was the last home game for UCLA. "That was his last game in Pauley, no doubt about it," Howland said. ESPN.com

Draft, Shabazz Muhammad 

Muhammad scored his season average of 18 points in his home swan song, including the game-sealing free throws with nine seconds to play. He said he briefly thought about those being his last moments in Pauley, but wasn't ready to fully commit to entering the NBA draft. "It's still a long season of basketball," Muhammad said. "We don't know yet. I kind of thought about it. I just thought about the big win we're going to have and how important this win was for us against Arizona." ESPN.com

Draft, Shabazz Muhammad 

Larry (Chicago) Who is your top 10 picks for the 2013 NBA Draft right now? Chad Ford (1:47 PM): 1. Nerlens Noel, Kentucky 2. Shabazz Muhammad, UCLA 3. Alex Len, Maryland 4. Ben McLemore, Kansas 5. Cody Zeller, Indiana 6. Anthony Bennett, UNLV 7. Alex Poythress, Kentucky 8. Otto Porter, Georgetown 9. Michael Carter-Williams, Syracuse 10. Archie Goodwin, Kentucky ESPN.com

Draft, Shabazz Muhammad, Nerlens Noel, Alex Len 

The NCAA is investigating a conversation pertaining to UCLA basketball player Shabazz Muhammad that a Memphis, Tenn., attorney said she overheard on an Aug. 7 commuter flight. The attorney, Florence Johnson Raines, said she heard a man who said he was dating "an NCAA attorney" loudly telling people around him that his girlfriend had said Muhammad would never play college basketball this season because he broke rules. Raines emailed a letter to Dennis Thomas, then a member of the NCAA infractions committee, saying she was concerned that what should have been a confidential matter was being discussed in such a way. Los Angeles Times

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