UPDATE[4:52 PM]: Official statement from UNC:
University of North Carolina men's basketball players Wayne Ellington, Danny Green and Ty Lawson have decided to withdraw from the 2008 NBA Draft and return to Chapel Hill for the 2008-09 season, head coach Roy Williams announced on Monday.
The trio had entered their names into the NBA Draft pool in April but did not hire agents, leaving open the possibility of returning to school. The deadline to withdraw from the draft was 5:00 p.m. Eastern Time on Monday.
"After a long and exhaustive process of gathering information and sharing it with these youngsters, I stepped back and asked them to make their own decisions," Williams said on Monday afternoon. "I'm very pleased with their decisions because I get to coach them for another year. I'm also pleased that they went through the process and gained valuable information. It was reassuring that the feedback they got from the NBA teams is the same type of feedback our coaching staff has been giving them.
"It was a lengthy process, but one that is fair for these youngsters. Everyone should have the right to be evaluated in terms of possibly reaching his dreams. I feel strongly that all of these young men will eventually be NBA players. The timing was just not exactly right at this point. They had my 100 percent support throughout the process, regardless of which decision they might have made."
National. Title. Favorite. And it is not even close.
Previous updates after the jump.
UPDATE[4:45 PM]: IC is now reporting that all three will return via official confirmation from UNC.
UPDATE[4:07 PM]: Which will happen first: UNC makes an announcement or someone wins the US Open. Tiger forces sudden death with another birdie on 18.
UPDATE[1:21 PM]: Jeff Goodman from Fox Sports is reporting that all three are coming back to UNC. I would take this as nearly official given Goodman's credibility.
UPDATE[12:36 PM]: The N&O indicates a press release will be forthcoming when the decisions are known. Usually I would take this as good news but since Roy is in Omaha, obviously there would be no press conference. I have no idea what, if anything, this means since the way this is done now is completely different.
According to a tip I have received, Ty Lawson, Wayne Ellington and Danny Green have all decided to return to Chapel Hill. As with anything that is posted anywhere(and that includes the mainstream media) official confirmation will be the final word. However, based on the information I have received and the sources involved I believe it to be reliable. This information is also echoed by similar chatter on IC's premium board.
Stay tuned for the official word out of UNC.