According to The Daily Texan Texas freshman, and national player of the year Kevin Durant announced he would be declaring himself for the NBA Draft after just one year in Austin. Durant, the Big 12 freshman and player of the year, averaged a stellar 25.8 points and 11.1 rebounds. He was one of only three players in D-1 basketball to average better than 20 points and 10 rebounds.
"I enjoyed my year here at Texas," Durant said in a written statement. "All the fans and everyone here at Texas made me feel right at home, considering I was so far away from home. I will always be a Longhorn and never forget what the people at Texas have done for me."
Durant is almost unanimously being projected as a top two pick in the draft, the only thing holding him back from being the uncontested top pick is whether or not Greg Oden decided to declare as well.
Texas, despite losing their star, will still be a very good team come the 2008 season. The Longhorns will be bringing back D.J. Augustin who emerged as one of the nation's top young point guards and fellow guard A.J. Abrams who averaged 15.5 points and was an All-Big 12 Honorable Mention selection. Freshman Justin Mason will bring added depth to the backcourt after showing real promise this past season, and Damion James a G/F like Durant will help on the boards after averaging 7.2 rebounds in 25.9 minutes.
The LA Times reported that junior All-American and Pac-10 Player of the Year Arron Afflalo will forgo his senior season at UCLA and enter the NBA Draft. Afflalo led the Bruins to consecutive Final Fours the last two seasons, only to be beaten by the Florida Gators each time.
"At this point in time, it's time for me to move on, do some different things. I hope everybody understands this is a well thought-out decision," Afflalo said today in an interview.
Afflalo who led UCLA in scoring this season with 16.9 points is being projected to fall somewhere between the late first round to the middle of the second round. Bruin head coach Ben Howland had his own thoughts on Afflalo's stock.
"Arron will end up being a first-round pick," Howland said. "I've done a lot of research over the last week, talked to NBA GMs and there's a lot of people very excited about Arron. He will have a long and fruitful career."
Bruin fans now will be waiting to see if Darren Collison and Josh Shipp will be declaring for the draft as well. Both players are likely to return, and with incoming freshman and McDonald's All-American Kevin Love, could make another run to the Final Four next season.
North Carolina fans can breathe a little easier today. The Raleigh News & Observer reported that freshman guard Ty Lawson and sophomore All-American forward Tyler Hansbrough will both be back in Chapel Hill next season. The duo made the announcement Tuesday night at the team awards banquet.
The Tar Heels now have two of their three superstars back for another year, with freshman Brandon Wright still not having made an announcement regarding his decision for next season. With Hansbrough and Lawson back, and a tremendous amount of young talent including Wayne Ellington, North Carolina will be primed for a Final Four run next season.
In other news, the Massachusetts Daily Collegian reported that UMass head coach Travis Ford signed a 5-year extension. Ford who still had three years remaining on a 5-year deal he signed back in 2005, is now signed to coach the Minutemen through the 2014-15 season. Last season Ford led UMass to a 24-9 record and a share of the Atlantic-10 regular season title. The Minutemen lost in the second round of the NIT to eventual champ West Virginia. Ford's name certainly was on some school's lists as a hot commodity with the job he has done so far with the Minutemen.
With optimism riding high at UMass, Ford will be without some of his top players, Stephane Lasme, Rashaun Freeman, James Life and Brandon Thomas are all graduating this spring.
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