The Daily Campus

Issue date: 4/15/09 Section: Sports

Media Credit: Ryan Sayers Hasheem Thabeet celebrates UConn's February victory over Michigan at Gampel Pavilion. Thabeet, a junior, announced Tuesday that he would enter his name into the NBA Draft, ending speculation that he might return for a fourth season in Storrs.

Ever since Hasheem Thabeet finished his freshman season at UConn - when he averaged just 6.2 points and 6.4 rebounds per game - it has been widely speculated that he would forego his collegiate eligibility and enter the NBA Draft.

Two years later, the speculation has finally ended. Thabeet is going pro.

"After spending time with my family and friends and speaking with Coach Calhoun, I have decided to give up my final year at UConn and enter my name in the 2009 NBA Draft," Thabeet said. "I have had a great experience at Connecticut and cannot thank my coaches and teammates enough.

"I look forward to the challenge of playing professionally and know that my time here at UConn has prepared me to be successful in the future. I also want to thank all of the fans in Husky Nation that have followed my career, especially those from my homeland of Tanzania, and hope they will all be as supportive of me at the professional level as they have been to this point."

Thabeet improved by leaps and bounds since his UConn career began, as he was named co-Big East Player of the Year and Second-Team AP All-American this past season. The 7-foot-3 center averaged 13.6 points, 10.8 rebounds and 4.2 blocked shots per game as a junior and was named National Defensive Player of the Year for the second consecutive season. He ends his career as the No. 2 shot-blocker in UConn's history with 418 blocks, which is 24 short of the record set by Emeka Okafor, the No. 2 overall pick in the 2004 NBA Draft.

"Hasheem is more than ready to



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than ready to make the move to the next level," said coach Jim Calhoun. "He has been one of the most dominant defensive players in the history of college basketball and I am certain that wherever he ends up in the NBA, he is ready to be equally successful.



"He is a special player and even more special as a person. He will truly be remembered as one of the great players in UConn history, not only for his accomplishments, but also because of the type of person he is."



Thabeet is listed as the No. 2 overall pick by NBADraft.net and No. 4 overall by DraftExpress.com. ESPN draft analyst Chad Ford ranks Thabeet as the No. 3 prospect available, behind Oklahoma's Blake Griffin and Spain's Ricky Rubio.



He is the 11th player in school history to declare early for the draft. Ten of those 11 players were first-round draft picks, with point guard Khalid El-Amin as the lone exception. The Huskies currently have 12 active NBA players, the most of any college, and will most add to that number with Thabeet's declaration and the graduation of A.J. Price and Jeff Adrien, both of whom are projected to be second-round picks.

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