COLLEGE TALENT DRAIN WORRIES HUSKY COACH.

Byline: Jim Cour Associated Press 

Washington's Bob Bender hopes something can be done to keep the best young talent in college basketball before it's too late.

Otherwise, he's afraid of the consequences - diminished crowds and lower television ratings.

``I think all the coaches are concerned that with the drain of the top players and the marquee names that it could affect the interest in the college game,'' Bender said Tuesday.

Bender, 39, took over the beleaguered Huskies men's basketball program four years ago and coached Washington into the National Invitation Tournament last season. Then his best player, Mark Sanford, only a sophomore, told Bender he wanted to play in the NBA.

Sanford, a slender 6-foot-9 forward, will be back for his junior season only because the NBA told him he wasn't going to get drafted in the first round. He withdrew his name.

Bender was fortunate. California wasn't so lucky. Shareef Abdur-Rahim, the Pac-10 Player of the Year as a freshman, left Cal for the NBA and became the third player chosen by Vancouver.

Kobe Bryant went directly from high school to the Lakers, just like Kevin Garnett did a year earlier when he went from high school to Minnesota.

Bender knows the NBA can't legally stop the 17-year-olds from entering its drafts and the best freshmen and sophomores in college from submitting their names. But he said there is a greater sense of urgency among college basketball's coaches to get some relief.

``All of us in coaching are very open minded and want to make sure that we have a dialogue starting very soon in a very real way with NBA people and the NCAA,'' he said. ``We need to come up with some viable solutions so that our game isn't hurt by this.''

In addition to Sanford, Bender has a pair of centers, 7-foot-1 Patrick Femerling and 7-footer Todd MacCulloch, who have the potential to play pro basketball some day.

Femerling came to the United States from Germany to get his college degree and play college basketball.

He doesn't like what he's seeing.

``I think every player who plays basketball wants to play in the NBA against the best players in the world,'' Femerling said. ``That's a dream for me. But not everybody can make it in the NBA and be a big-time star. There are a whole bunch of college players who will never play in the NBA.''

He was looking forward to playing against Abdur-Rahim for at least another season.

``It's not good for college basketball for so many players to leave early,'' Femerling said.

Bender isn't sure what the answer is, but he knows professional basketball is facing a lawsuit if it tries to set up any rules restricting the flow of players into the NBA.

So it probably will be up to the colleges, he said.

``Maybe it could be a contract that could be written out when a player enters college where it says, `I will stay for X amount of years and I will not leave before that,' '' Bender said. ``How realistic is that? I don't know.''

One of the bright young minds in college basketball, Bender does have a prediction. He thinks it's going to get worse before it gets better for the colleges.

``In the next five years, I predict we'll see more and more high school kids coming out,'' he said.