Articles:LaTech's Millsap & Nevada's Fazekas enter draft

[chawan_cut]

after hearing this on the Sports Bar on KKEA this afternoon.... Fazekas will not get an agent, but I think Millsap

i know everyone's focused on spring football, but this is big news for the WAC. good and bad i believe. good that we won't need to be playing them anymore, but bad for the WAC because ESPN and the nation loved the 2 of them and no one else. it'll also look good if they both get drafted in the first round, since we are just a mid-major conference.

Nevada's Fazekas enters draft, but won't hire agent
http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/draft2006 ... id=2399882

Associated Press

RENO, Nev. -- Nevada junior Nick Fazekas entered the NBA draft Thursday but won't hire an agent so he can return to school if he isn't going to be a first-round pick.

"More than likely, if I'm not a first-round pick then you'll probably see me back here," Fazekas told reporters during a news conference on the Reno campus.

Fazekas, a 6-foot-11 forward who shoots well from the outside, finished 16th in the NCAA in scoring this season averaging 21.8 points and was 15th in rebounding with 10.4 per game. He was named a third-team All-American by The Associated Press and was the Western Athletic Conference's player of the year.

Nevada coach Mark Fox, who joined Fazekas at the news conference, said he supported the decision of his star player from Arvada, Colo. He said they submitted official papers to the NBA on Thursday.

"Everyone has to understand that from day one, when Nick was in high school, this was his dream to play in the NBA. I'm extremely happy for him that he has a chance to pursue it," Fox said.

"He'll be able to get an education from the NBA exactly where he sits and then he can make an educated decision," he said.

Fazekas said the NBA advisory board indicated to him and Fox last year that he likely would have been a second-round pick if he'd entered the 2005 NBA draft. Most reports project him as a late first-round pick this year, which would earn him a guaranteed contract.

If a player doesn't hire an agent, he can withdraw by June 17 from the draft, to be held June 27 at New York's Madison Square Garden, and retain his college eligibility.

"Really, nothing could go wrong right now without getting an agent," Fazekas said Thursday.

"It's a waste of time for me to go in the second round. You are not guaranteed anything in the second round," he said.

Fazekas said his parents supported his decision. He said he and Fox decided about a week ago this was the route to go.

"I've been back and forth. We weighed the pluses and minuses and decided it would be good to test the waters," said Fazekas, who led Nevada to a 27-6 record this year and its third straight appearance in the NCAA Tournament.

He said he made a mistake thinking too much about the NBA during his sophomore year and adopted "reverse psychology" this season.

"Last year, it did me bad to really think about the NBA all the time. The more that I didn't think about it, the better off I was ... If I was just worried about winning the game we were playing that night and not worrying about impressing people," he said.

"Trying to put up certain things, do stuff I wasn't capable of doing, then that was going to hurt me," he said.

Joe Fazekas, his father, told the Reno Gazette-Journal on Wednesday that his son would likely enter the draft without an agent.

"Another year [of college basketball], that wouldn't be the end of the world," Joe Fazekas said. "If it doesn't work out like he thinks it will, he could still go back. He's a celebrity in Reno. It's fun for him."

Nevada's press release:
http://nevadawolfpack.cstv.com/sports/m ... 06aab.html


Millsap led nation in rebounding three straight years
http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/draft2006 ... id=2397084

Associated Press

RUSTON, La. -- Louisiana Tech junior forward Paul Millsap, the first college basketball player to lead the nation in rebounding three years running, said Tuesday he will leave school to enter the NBA Draft.

In a prepared statement, Millsap said he would enter the NBA to help his mother "enjoy the life she deserves."

Millsap led the country the last two seasons with averages of 12.5 and 12.4 rebounds per game. He finished the latest season with 13.3.

Here's a link to the La Tech Athletic Department article
Junior Forward Paul Millsap Will Forego Senior Season for NBA Draft
http://www.latechsports.com/article.php ... 4_16:36:51

[flipen]

End of the WAC being a forward dominated conference?.. I mean the All-WAC team was composed of forwards..