94 players file for early entry to NBA draft

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Ninety-four player file early for NBA draft
Posted: Friday May 14, 2004 8:29PM; Updated: Friday May 14, 2004 8:40PM

NEW YORK (AP) -- Thirteen high school players were among the 94 who filed as early entry candidates for the NBA draft.

Forty-three college underclassmen, including all four eligible members of The Associated Press' All-America team, also submitted their letters by May 10, the NBA announced Friday.

The players have the right to withdraw their names from the list by notifying the NBA by June 17, one week before the draft is held in Madison Square Garden.

Any college players who have not signed with an agent can return to their school and not lose their eligibility.

The All-Americans who filed were Emeka Okafor of Connecticut, Lawrence Roberts of Mississippi State, Ryan Gomes of Providence and Josh Childress of Stanford, The fifth All-American, Jameer Nelson of Saint Joseph's, was a senior.

Thirty-eight international players were on the list.


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Underclassmen and internationals who declared for the NBA draft:

Chris Acker, G, Chaminade (junior)
LaMarcus Aldridge, C, Seagoville (HS)
Trevor Ariza, F, UCLA (freshman)
Brandon Bass, F, LSU (freshman)
Jermaine Bell, C, Notre Dame Prep (HS)
Brandon Bender, F, Robert Morris College (junior)
Odartey Blankson, F, Nevada-Las Vegas (junior)
Darren Brooks, G, Southern Illinois (junior)
Evan Burns, F, San Diego State (freshman)
Jackie Butler, C, Coastal Christian Academy (HS)
Josh Childress, F, Stanford (junior)
Cortez Davis, F, Rutgers (freshman)
Luol Deng, F, Duke (freshman)
Deng Gai, F, Fairfield (junior)
Ryan Gomes, F, Providence (junior)
Ben Gordon, G, Connecticut (junior)
Devin Harris, G, Wisconsin (junior)
David Harrison, C, Colorado (junior)
JaQuan Hart, G, Eastern Michigan (junior)
Daryll Hill, G, St. John's (sophomore)
Dwight Howard, C, Southwest Atlanta Christian Academy (HS)
Kris Humphries, F, Minnesota (freshman)
Sani Ibrahim, C, Gulf Coast CC (sophomore)
Andre Iguodala, F, Arizona (sophomore)
Martin Iti, C, Charlotte (freshman)
Jan Jagla, C, Penn State (junior)
Al Jefferson, F, Prentiss (MS) (HS)
Marco Killingsworth, F, Auburn (junior)
Shaun Livingston, G, Peoria (IL) (HS)
Kevin Martin, F, Western Carolina (junior)
Louis McCullough, G, Francis Marion (junior)
Jonathan Moore, F, North Carolina Central (junior)
Emeka Okafor, C, Connecticut (junior)
Randall Orr, C, Georgia Perimeter (sophomore)
Jason Parker, F, Kentucky (junior)
Kelvin Pena, G, Southeastern CC (sophomore)
Roger Powell, F, Illinois (junior)
Lawrence Roberts, F, Mississippi State (junior)
Nate Robinson, G, Washington (sophomore)
Robert Rothbart, C, Natomas (HS)
Imari Sawyer, G, DePaul (junior)
Maurice Shaw, F, Bridgton Academy (HS)
Ricky Shields, G, Rutgers (junior)
David Simon, F, IUPUFW (junior)
Tremayne Singletary, F, Southwestern (sophomore)
Donta Smith, F, Southeastern Illinois JC (sophomore)
Josh Smith, F, Oak Hill Academy (HS)
J.R. Smith, G, St. Benedict's Prep (NJ) (HS)
Kirk Snyder, G-F, Nevada (junior)
Jay Straight, G, Wyoming (junior)
Robert Swift, C, Bakersfield (HS)
Sebastian Telfair, G, Lincoln (NY) (HS)
Harvey Thomas, F, Baylor (junior)
Dijon Thompson, G-F, UCLA (junior)
Delonte West, G, St. Joseph's (junior)
Dorell Wright, F, South Kent Prep (HS)
Martynas Andriuskevicius, C, Zalgiris (Lithuania)
Ender Arslan, G, Efes Pilsen (Turkey)
Andris Biedrins, C, Skonto (Latvia)
Luka Bogdanovic, F, Crvenz Zvezda (Serbia-Montenegro)
Gary Chathuant, G, Brest (France)
Ivan Chiriaev, C, St. Thomas Aquinas (Canada)
Murilo da Rosa, F, Corinthians Mogi (Brazil)
Marcus de Souza, F, Corinthians Mogi (Brazil)
Mickael Gelabale, F, Cholet Basket (France)
Marcin Gortat, C, Cologne (Germany)
Hamid Haddadi, C, Peykan (Iran)
Ha Seung-jin, C, Yonsei University (South Korea)
Marcelo Huertas, G, Paulistano (Brazil)
Mile Ilic, C, Reflex (Serbia-Montenegro)
Arturas Kaubrys, C, Neptunas (Lithuania)
Ivan Koljevic, G, Buducnost (Serbia-Montenegro)
Erazem Lorbek, C, Skipper Bologna (Italy)
Dirk Madrich, C, Braunschweig (Germany)
Miguel Marriaga, F, Gaiteros (Venezuela)
Sergei Monya, F, CSKA Moscow (Russia)
Pavel Mroz, C, Slasdk Wroclaw (Poland)
Damir Omerhodzic, F, Cibona Zagreb (Croatia)
Drago Pasalic, F, Split (Croatia)
Kosta Perovic, C, Partizan (Serbia-Montenegro)
Johan Petro, C, Pau Orthez (France)
Pavel Podkolzine, C, Varese (Italy)
Peter Ramos, C, Criollos de Caguas (Puerto Rico)
Jaber Rouzbahani, C, Zob Ahan (Iran)
Dusan Sakota, F, Panathinaikos (Greece)
Predrag Samardziski, C, Partizan (Serbia-Montenegro)
Armands Skele, G, Slask Wroclaw (Poland)
Uros Slokar, F, Benetton Treviso (Italy)
Jerry Sokoloski, C, Silverthorn Institute (Canada)
Tiago Splitter, C, Tau Ceramica (Spain)
Marcin Stefanski, F, Dijon (France)
Marko Tomas, F, Zagreb (Croatia)
Roko Ukic, G, Split (Croatia)
Aleksandr Vujacic, F, Udine (Italy)

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2004/basketball/nba/05/14/bc.bkn.earlyentries.dra.ap/index.html

 

[elindholm]

Thirteen high-schoolers! That's pretty sad. No way will more than a few of them be drafted, which means that the others will have gambled their future away for nothing. (That is, unless they were smart enough not to hire agents, which chances are most of them weren't.)

I think that all high-schoolers should be required to watch a screening of Hoop Dreams and then wait 48 hours before they can declare.

 

[F-Dog]

Thirteen high-schoolers! That's pretty sad. No way will more than a few of them be drafted, which means that the others will have gambled their future away for nothing. (That is, unless they were smart enough not to hire agents, which chances are most of them weren't.)

I think that all high-schoolers should be required to watch a screening of Hoop Dreams and then wait 48 hours before they can declare.

It looks to me like the HS players are divided into two groups--the players who are actually going to get picked, and the ones who don't have any future to gamble away in the first place. Some of the college underclassmen are sad stories waiting to happen, though.


I have to admit--that's the most 'mid- to late first-round picks' I've seen in one place in my entire life.

 

[Joe Mama]

Thirteen high-schoolers! That's pretty sad. No way will more than a few of them be drafted, which means that the others will have gambled their future away for nothing. (That is, unless they were smart enough not to hire agents, which chances are most of them weren't.)

I think that all high-schoolers should be required to watch a screening of Hoop Dreams and then wait 48 hours before they can declare.

From what I've read the only high school players that have hired agents so far are those who are sure to be picked in the first round. Two thirds to half of those college underclassmen also will not hire agents. The European players lose nothing by hiring an agent.

A good number of these guys are just posturing themselves for future drafts. Some of them just want to see how they stack up against players in the draft. Some of them want the feedback from Scouts and team personnel who will tell them what they need to work on to get to the NBA level.

Joe Mama