The 2003 All-Americans are gone. None of the 15 players honored by the Associated Press as All-Americans will be back for the 2003-04 season.

The NBA also took Wooden and Naismith national player of the year T.J. Ford from Texas. Marquette junior Dwyane Wade also departed early after being named to the Wooden Award All-American team. Hollis Price, David West, Josh Howard, Jason Gardner, Brandin Knight and Kansas teammates Nick Collison and Kirk Hinrich each graduated after being named to the 10-player Wooden Award All-American team.

	Missouri's Rickey Paulding is among the players looking to emerge as next season's potential All-Americans.

West was the AP player of the year and joined by Collison, Howard, Wade and Ford as AP first team All-Americans. The second team was headlined by Syracuse freshman Carmelo Anthony -- who is projected to go No. 3 overall in next month's NBA draft -- and included Price, Gardner, Troy Bell of Boston College and Creighton's Kyle Korver. Seniors also comprised AP's third team, with Hinrich, Brian Cook (Illinois), Reece Gaines (Louisville), Keith Bogans (Kentucky) and Ron Slay (Tennessee).

Every major conference player of the year is also out the door.

The Big East saw Bell leave after four years, while Big Ten teams won't have to deal with Cook. Luke Ridnour left Oregon following a junior season that saw him take top Pac-10 honors, while Price, Collison and Ford were each voted by various outlets as the Big 12's best. The ACC and C-USA will be looking for new leading men after saying goodbye to Howard and Wade.

The list to replace last season's All-Americans is also missing some big names.

Chris Kaman would have had a chance to be an all-American if he had returned for his senior season at Central Michigan. So, too, would have Georgia Tech freshman Chris Bosh. But both are in the draft for good and solid lottery picks. Mario Austin (Mississippi State), Jarvis Hayes (Georgia), Rick Rickert (Minnesota), Maurice Williams (Alabama) and Marcus Moore (Washington State) have also bypassed a chance a All-American honors by declaring for the draft.

Saint Joseph's Jameer Nelson is likely a lock for All-American status if he withdraws from the draft and comes back for his last season as a Hawk. The same is true if Georgetown's Michael Sweetney and Notre Dame's Chris Thomas if they pass up a chance to be a potential lottery picks.

So, who should we start projecting as the top players in 2003-04?

The first chance will be this weekend in Colorado Springs at the U.S. national team trials for the Pan Am games and the 19-and-under World Championships, both to be held in July and August, respectively.

"This becomes an initial platform, especially for the players on the Pan Am team," said Oregon coach Ernie Kent, who will coach the 19-and-under team -- a team that will now play in Greece, instead of Malaysia after FIBA rightfully moved the event July 10-20 because of fears of SARS (and potential terrorist threats to the region).

2003 All-Americans

Players selected by AP to its 2003 All-America teams: First Team David West, Xavier* T.J. Ford, Texas Dwyane Wade, Marquette Nick Collison, Kansas Josh Howard, Wake Forest Second Team Carmelo Anthony, Syracuse Hollis Price, Oklahoma Jason Gardner, Arizona Troy Bell, Boston College Kyle Korver, Creighton First Team Kirk Hinrich, Kansas Brian Cook, Illinois Reece Gaines, Louisville Keith Bogans, Kentucky Ron Slay, Tennessee * Player of Year

"There will be over 70 NBA reps who will be there," Kent said. "This will be a very big weekend and give these guys a head start to next season as to who the All-Americans will be. All the eyes will be on these guys for college and the next level to see who will be the future stars."

The only returning player on the Wooden Award team, Connecticut rising junior Emeka Okafor, will be in Colorado this weekend. By all accounts, Okafor will be a consensus preseason All-America selection. He could be joined by teammate Ben Gordon, Arizona State's Ike Diogu, Texas' Brandon Mouton, Michigan's Daniel Horton or the Missouri duo of Ricky Paulding and Arthur Johnson. Each will get plenty of time to shine.

"A lot of people will be talking about who plays well since this is the first opportunity since the season is over," Arizona State coach Rob Evans said. "Ike has measured himself against good people, but this will be another good chance for everyone to see him. He's got a good chance to be a preseason all-American."

"This is an easy commitment and Ben and Emeka are really excited about it," Connecticut coach Jim Calhoun said. "This experience can turn the corner for them and has for our players. Caron Butler and Donyell Marshall have played in USA Basketball. It can give them a national exposure and NBA exposure. I also like them to hear different voices. When Caron played for Jimmy (Boeheim two summers ago) it helped him. Tommy (Izzo) is an ideal guy to play for and he's a good competitor to play for."

While 50 of the top American players will be in Colorado Springs starting Friday through Sunday, there are some obvious omissions due to summer school responsibilities or injuries. Other underclassmen -- such as Nelson, Sweetney, Thomas, Williams, Texas Tech's Andre Emmett and N.C. State's Josh Powell -- could ultimately return to college after testing their NBA value over the next month. While each of these players could return to college next season because they didn't sign with an agent, they are ineligible to play for Team USA since they've declared for the draft. Team USA simply can't wait for them to make their final decisions by the June 19 deadline for underclassmen to withdraw from the draft.

Summer school and injuries kept the North Carolina contingent -- Raymond Felton, Rashad McCants and Sean May -- from attending the U.S. tryouts. No one from Kansas -- Keith Langford, Aaron Miles, Wayne Simien or incoming freshman David Padgett -- will be there, either . Duke's Chris Duhon is taking a pass to let an injury heal. So, too, are Indiana's Bracey Wright (back surgery) and Miami's Darius Rice.

Arizona's foursome of potential Team USA players -- Channing Frye, Hassan Adams, Andre Iguodala and incoming freshman Mustafa Shakur -- will be in summer school in Tucson. Wake Forest's potential candidates Eric Williams, Justin Gray and Chris Paul won't participate, instead choosing to stay in Winston-Salem. Oklahoma's Kevin Bookout received a waiver from the trials, according to coach Kelvin Sampson, because he is in the NCAA track and field championships in the shot put.

The player Kent recruited to take Ridnour's spot at point next season, and the starting point guard on last season's World Junior Championship team that Kent coached --incoming freshman Aaron Brooks -- took a pass. Kent said if Ridnour was returning to Oregon, he would have had Brooks play with Team USA, but thought it was better for him to get adjusted to Eugene and the Oregon system.

	“	This is unusual. All of the all-Americans are gone. We're going to see who some of the best players are in the country for next season this weekend. Whoever steps up ... could be the guys for next year. ”
		— Kelvin Sampson, Oklahoma head coach

Even Syracuse's starting guard Gerry McNamara is saying no to the U.S. after helping the Orangemen win the national championship as a freshman. He'd rather go fishing.

"He loves to fish," Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim said. "He just caught an eight-pound bass. He does his workouts, individually. But he's not into this and he wouldn't be into it mentally. He's a four-year college guy. I wouldn't want him to go if he wasn't into it."

But Boeheim is sending Hakim Warrick.

"The top players are all gone so it's wide open for the rest of the spots," Boeheim said of the 2003-04 All-America race. "This will be a good indicator for the best players in the country."

As for USA Basketball, it isn't interested in showcasing the best players. Tom Izzo, who will coach the American squad at the Pan-Am Games, is trying to put together the best team for the tournament, regardless of age. That could be good news for role players like Kentucky's Gerald Fitch or Chuck Hayes. The Pan-Am team will play in the Dominican Republic on Aug. 2-6. The top remaining players, 19 and under, will play for Kent.

"Those guys will have to stand on their own," Kentucky assistant coach David Hobbs said. "This will be a good test for them to see how they do."

Izzo also has three of his own players at the trials -- Chris Hill, Paul Davis and Maurice Ager.

"The one thing you've got to do in this international competition is find guys who can score," said Izzo, who added that the international rules will help these players adjust to the likely new NCAA rules. The rules committee is supposed to adopt the international 3-point line as well as a trapezoid lane.

Kent said the weekend of workouts will provide players a chance to establish their own identity, especially a player like Oregon's Luke Jackson, who is suddenly playing a solo act instead of a supporting role in the "Luke & Luke Show".

"These guys will leave the shadows of other players on their team from last season," Sampson said. "This is unusual. All of the all-Americans are gone. We're going to see who some of the best players are in the country for next season this weekend. Whoever steps up for coach Izzo and coach Kent could be the guys for next year."

Andy Katz is a senior writer at ESPN.com.