Kansas men’s basketball players Brandon Rush and Darrell Arthur will announce their intentions to declare for the NBA Draft at a 3:30 p.m. news conference today, The Star has learned.
Rush’s grandmother, Jeanette Jacobs, confirmed that Rush will declare for the draft and hire an agent, officially ending his college career.
Arthur, however, does not plan to hire an agent, according to his mother, Sandra Arthur. That will keep the door open for him to return for his junior season if he is not happy with his draft stock after going through workouts with NBA teams.
As long as Mario stays for next year Kansas will have a decent chance at repeating. It's a shame that Evans has decided to go to Memphis instead of Kansas. He would have been a GREAT
Evans has already said he was going to Memphis before Kansas even had a chance to talk to him
Evans says he was not going to sign Memphis head coach got a new contract
and what happened yesterday...Memphis Head coach got a new contract that got Evens to sign with Memphis
I think this is a good sign that Mario is returning. If he was leaving I would expect he would announce along with Brandon and Darrell.
All in all a good day for Kansas. The more players you have in the NBA can only help in future recruiting and I agree that with Mario back we have the best backcourt in the country next season and are a serious final four contender. (please stay Mario)
Correct me if I'm wrong but this being the second time Rush has declared the whole "hiring an agent" thing is irrelevant in terms of him being able to return to KU.
Yeah, you can only "test the waters" once in college. The second time you declare, you lose your college eligibility. Interesting note, though...this is actually Brandon's 3rd time declaring for the NBA. He declared out of HS right before they instituted the "must be 19" rule. That doesn't count toward the "two and your done" rule.
Also...good move by DA not to hire an agent. I'm seeing middle first round for him, so if he's not happy, he can come on back for a shot at a repeat. I think his stock is high because of the title game, but...depending on his workouts...he might be better off with another season at KU. We'll see, though. Can't blame the guys for going pro when they throw buckets of money at you.
If Mario comes back we'll be great again next year, awesome recruiting class with Appleton and Little. Darrell is a memory. His stock is too high to land him below 20th in the draft, and that's enough to tip the scales, I would think. Having C&C back, if it holds that way for ten more days, is good news, but don't you think Cole is beginning to feel a bit lonely? With half the recruits being guards, along with the five -- count 'em, five returnig who suited up last week,besides Mario and Sherron -- it would have been nice to hear about about a Juco banger or two.
Of course, good players with size don't play in Juco unless there are admission or character questions that chase away NCAA schools. The thought that "Cole came along fast, so can these three." doesn't wash for me. A McDAA practicing with three seasoned "bigs" does not equate to 3- or 4- stars practicing against each other.
At any rate, the '08-09 season will be played with what we have on hand. Four guard sets an "40 minutes of hell" pressing defense may be necessary for long stretches.
Self is still in contact with J'Mison and Akol and we have the Morris twins coming in so there will be options in the front court to pair with Cole. Undoubtedly this squad will not be nearly as talented as our championship team but the best backcourt in the country and a young, talented front court could equate to another deep run in the tournament. And then we can start salivating over the '09 recruiting class headlined by Xavier Henry along with high interest from several other 5 star players... many of which are prototype Bill Self guys, 6'7-6'9 with powerful bodies.
Jackson is class through and through but I'm afraid he falls into that "tweener" category in the NBA. I will root for him wherever he lands and hopefully he will work extremely hard on his shooting ability this off season. I doubt he will be able to make a living on the low post in the league at his size but if he can develop a serious inside/outside game then it could be interesting because he certainly has the tenacity and defensive skills that NBA scouts and personnel love.
