Charlotte, N.C. ? Brandan Wright is having a hard time deciding whether to stay or go.

Let’s simplify it: Wright needs to declare for the NBA draft and leave Chapel Hill behind.

At the North Carolina basketball banquet Tuesday, center Tyler Hansbrough and point guard Ty Lawson said they were sticking around for the Tar Heels’ 2007-08 season. Wright, a 6-9 forward, didn’t talk to the media after the banquet because he hadn’t made a decision. His decision won’t be publicly announced until at least April 20, according to coach Roy Williams.

Lots of folks who went to college – including many men who harbor a secret desire to star in a sequel to “Old School” – believe everyone who’s in college should want to stay there as long as possible. Four years. Six years. Eight years.

But to me, college basketball is mostly a business. Players should consider their basketball future dispassionately, as a stock that should be sold at its peak.

Wright’s stock is at a 52-week high. He could be picked as early as No. 3 in this summer’s NBA draft behind Kevin Durant and Greg Oden, perhaps even No. 2 if Oden stays at Ohio State. (I think Oden should leave, too, but that’s another story.)

The NBA is a weird beast. It drafts so much on potential that a player with Wright’s exact skill set at age 22 would be drafted well below Wright, who is 19.

Wright isn’t strong enough to be a great pro yet. His free throws and outside shots need work. But he plays a versatile, fast game, and he’s long-armed enough to bother everyone he defends.

What if Wright stays? He might improve on last year’s performance. The Tar Heels might win an NCAA championship with him next season. He might even move up a spot or two for the 2008 draft. He still won’t be the Tar Heels’ best player – that will be Hansbrough once again – but Wright could get tougher and more polished.

But Wright also might get hurt. Yes, you can take out an insurance policy for that, but it’s still a risk. Or he could simply not play as well.

I keep thinking about the case of Chris Marcus, a lightly recruited high school basketball player in Charlotte at Olympic who went to Western Kentucky and became a surprising star.

After Marcus led the nation in rebounding in 2001 as a sophomore, the 7-footer had a chance to be a likely NBA lottery pick. Instead, Marcus stayed in college in a widely lauded decision.

Then Marcus got hurt. And hurt again.

He hobbled through his last two collegiate seasons on a bad ankle and wasn’t drafted. No one wanted to take a chance on a big man with bad wheels. Marcus never got a sniff of the NBA money he passed up.

Wright isn’t Marcus. For one thing, he’s about 100 pounds lighter. But his future also seems rosy. It’s “Deal or No Deal” time. And the right decision is to take the money.