Kansas star Joel Embiid – a possible No. 1 overall choice – has decided to enter the June NBA draft, sources told Yahoo Sports.
Embiid, a 20-year-old, 7-foot freshman, rapidly emerged as one of college basketball's major talents and moved into competition with Jayhawks teammate Andrew Wiggins and Duke's Jabari Parker to be the No. 1 pick in the 2014 draft.
Wiggins has been consistent in saying he’ll only play one year of college basketball, and Parker says he still is deciding whether he'll enter the draft.
A formal announcement on Embiid's decision is expected soon. In the past week, Embiid has progressed in settling on agent representation, but no final decision has been made, sources said.
Embiid's season ended prematurely with a stress fracture in his back, costing him the final two games of the regular season, the Big 12 tournament and Kansas' two games in the NCAA tournament. Until the injury, Kansas was considered a serious national championship contender.
There's a strong expectation Embiid will make a full recovery, but NBA teams will closely examine the long-term fitness of the injury.
Embiid has shown to be a dominating presence on offense and defense, offering NBA executives evidence he could transform into a rare franchise center. A native of Cameroon, he enrolled at a Florida prep school as a 16-year-old with limited experience as a basketball player.
Embiid averaged 11.2 points, 8.1 rebounds and 2.6 blocks in 23 minutes a game for Kansas this season.
Yahoo Sports
Good luck to you big fella @jojo_embiid
@humblekid11
@humblekid11 haven't made a decision yet
@jojo_embiid
"I have Jo in my office right now.... He didn't know where that came from," Self said of the report. "No decision has been made on what he's going to do next year at all. I'm telling you, no decision at all has been made. I think he's still a little ways away from that. That information that was reported did not come from Jo."
Self was asked if any news regarding Embiid's future was imminent and said no.
"As of now, this kid has not made any decision yet. He needs some time to make a good, informed decision," Self said.
Asked specifically about the Yahoo Sports report, Self added, "That's the way this business works. There are all kinds of reports out there that are not accurate. That doesn't mean it couldn't potentially be accurate in the future."
http://m.kusports.com/news/2014/mar/27/sources-tell-yahoo-sports-joel-embiid-leaving-cent
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