Oden To Declare

According to a report in The Columbus Dispatch Ohio St freshman Greg Oden will officially declare for the NBA Draft on Friday and is expected to sign with an agent. It has been expected almost since he first stepped foot on campus at Ohio St that Oden would be gone after one season. The 7-footer lived up to expectations, finishing as the runner-up in voting for the Wooden Award behind Kevin Durant. Oden is expected to be the number one pick, but will not fall any farther than second.
Fellow freshman Mike Conley Jr. and Daequan Cook are also expected to announce that they will be declaring for the draft. At this time neither Conley nor Cook is expected to sign with an agent, leaving both players the option to return to school. Conley is considered to be the top point guard prospect and would most likely be a top-10 pick. Cook is the biggest question mark, and stands a chance to go undrafted should he keep his name in the draft.
A source close to all three players said that the players will be releasing a statement through Ohio St in which they declare their intentions. Though this will hurt the Buckeyes if all three players in fact leave school, they still have a very solid recruiting class coming in and plenty of young talent still on the roster.

According to an AP report on ESPN.com Nevada junior guards Marcelus Kemp and Ramon Sessions will enter the NBA Draft. Neither player will be signing with an agent, giving them the option to return to school. Kemp was a first-team all-Western Athletic Conference selection who averaged 13.5 points, while shooting a very strong 40.6% from beyond the arc. Sessions was a second-team all-Western Athletic Conference selection, averaging 12.3 points and 4.7 assists.

The Memphis Commercial Appeal reported that Memphis's Chris Douglas-Roberts would be returning for his junior year with the Tigers. "I'm not even going to test it," Douglas-Roberts said. The 6'6" sophomore averaged 15.4 points on 54.3% shooting on his way to earning first-team All-C-USA honors. With the return of the Tiger's core, and a very good recruiting class that includes top-5 prospect Derrick Rose arriving in the fall, Memphis will be a very good team next year.

According to the Chicago Sun-Times Big Ten conference officials have approved a new 18-game schedule for next season. Indiana coach Kelvin Sampson weighed in on the possibility of the change: ''There would be a big difference if we played 18 conference games this year,'' Sampson said. ''We already play Kentucky, Connecticut and Georgia Tech, so that's really like 21, and then we go to Southern Illinois, too, so that's like 22.''
The Sun-Times also reported that Illinois junior center Shaun Pruitt will enter the NBA Draft. Pruitt who averaged 11.4 points and 7.4 rebounds (third in the Big Ten) is not expected to sign with an agent.

Signings of Note From Wednesday and Thursday
Iowa: Jeff Peterson - 5'11" PG - Hyattsville, MD - 2-star recruit according to Scout.com
Illinois: Rodney Alexander - 6'7" SF - Redlands CC (Juco Soph) - 13.8 ppg, 5.3 rpg, 58.7% FG - Ranked #14 among Juco players by Rivals.com
Oklahoma St: Brad Garrett - 6'5" SG - College of Southern Idaho (Juco) - 15.8 ppg, 5.3 rpg, 41.3% 3P - 3-star recruit according to Scout.com
Auburn: Boubacar Sylla - 7'1" C - Tarzana, CA - 2.4 ppg, 2.8 rpg - Ranked #27 Center in class of 2007 by Scout.com