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Who were the big winners in the NBA draft last month? Mississippi State, for one. Alabama, for another.

While Tennessee felt proud seeing junior Marcus Haislip become a lottery pick, Mississippi State felt relief seeing center Mario Austin return for his junior year in Humphrey Coliseum.

Alabama lost one junior, Rod Grizzard, but retained a more important one, center Erwin Dudley, last season's SEC Player of the Year.

"The Haislip thing (leaving early) caught me a little off guard," UT coach Buzz Peterson said last week during an SEC basketball teleconference, "but Marcus made a wise decision.

"Being a lottery pick, I would advise any young man to go out."

Having to replace Haislip along with senior Vincent Yarbrough -- who was also one of only four SEC players selected in the draft -- puts the Vols in rebuilding mode.

Haislip was the top SEC pick, going at No. 13 to Milwaukee. Kentucky senior Tayshaun Prince also went in the first round. Yarbrough and Alabama's Grizzard were second-round picks.

Austin and Dudley, along with Kentucky guard Keith Bogans, explored their NBA draft status but decided to stay in school. By sticking around, the two big men assured their teams of contending for the Western Division and SEC outright titles in the coming season.

Austin averaged 16.1 points and 7.6 rebounds as a sophomore. Dudley averaged 15.2 points and an SEC-best 8.9 rebounds as a junior. They ranked 2-3, respectively, in field-goal percentage.

"Those two coming back certainly puts their respective teams in position to be the favorites,'' said LSU coach John Brady. "Alabama right now would have to be the favorite on our side, if not the whole league."

"And right behind them," added Ole Miss coach Rod Barnes, "you've got to put Mississippi State.

"Those guys are going to be two of the better post players in the country. Don't limit that to our league."

Georgia is getting a lot of summer sizzle as a preseason top-10 pick. Kentucky and Florida are also considered top-20 teams. And, with their inside games intact, so are Alabama and Mississippi State.

"There's not any question,'' said Alabama coach Mark Gottfried, "it strengthens this side of the league. There's going to be some good battles.

"There is a perception that the West takes a backseat to the East, but I don't think that's accurate at all."

Gottfried said Dudley would have turned pro if he had been projected as a top 12-to-15 pick. That wasn't the case. A 3.0 student, Dudley is on track to graduate, Gottfried said.

Austin was the biggest reason State won a school-record 27 games. He was the MVP of the SEC Tournament, which the Bulldogs won. He should only be better this time around.

"Mario's got to make some adjustments," said coach Rick Stansbury. "He's got to defend on the perimeter and do more things away from the basket. If he will do that, it allows us to play another big guy with him."