Print

Mail

wiki links

Andrew Bogut ready for prime time

Utah's Andrew Bogut, right, drives around Kentucky's Lukasz Obrzut during the NCAA Austin Region semifinals at the Frank Erwin Center in Austin, Texas, on Friday. PHOTO: AP

Australian Olympian Andrew Bogut will enter the NBA draft, forgoing his final two years of NCAA eligibility to possibly become the No. 1 choice.

"I have no regrets and full-speed ahead,M the 2.14m center said at a news conference on Monday.

Bogut, the leading vote-getter on the AP All-America team, averaged 20.4 points and 12.2 rebounds while leading the University of Utah to a 29-6 season, which ended with a loss to Kentucky in the regional semifinals of the NCAA Tournament.

"I feel the time is right to move on to the next level of basketball," Bogut said.

Bogut has hired agent David Bauman of SFX Basketball, making him ineligible to play again at a college in the US. Bogut plans to stick around Salt Lake City for a few weeks, then head to Washington, to begin preparing for pre-draft workouts.

Bogut's parents, Anne and Michael Bogut, sat in the front row for their son's news conference. Michael Bogut ran an auto shop when Andrew was growing up, and the younger Bogut remembered some lean times for the family. As a top NBA pick, Bogut's family should be comfortable for a long time.

Bogut considered leaving after last season, when he was the Mountain West Conference rookie of the year, but a visit to Australia from new Utah coach Ray Giacoletti convinced Bogut to put off the NBA at least another year.

Bogut is expected to be, at the very least, a lottery pick in the NBA draft and possibly the first player chosen overall with his exceptional ballhandling skills for a center. Bogut led Utah in scoring and rebounding and was third on the team in assists with 82.

"There hasn't been one day when he hasn't been our hardest worker," Giacoletti said. "It's all been about the team and that's very rare this day."

Bogut recorded double-doubles in all but nine games this season and finished with at least 10 points and 10 rebounds 40 times in his Utah career. And at just 20 years old, NBA scouts -- fixtures at Utah games this season -- are convinced he can only get better.

Bogut was a starter on Australia's Olympic team last summer and averaged 14.8 points and 8.8 rebounds.

Bogut knew before the season started that leaving would be a possibility, but not until midway through it was he leaning toward the draft. And he didn't want to talk about it until the Utes' run in the NCAA Tournament was over.

"I didn't want to do anything to take the limelight away from the team. It's just not fair," Bogut said.

Without Bogut, it will be difficult for the Utes to top this season, but Giacoletti said he wasn't even going to try to talk him in to coming back again.
This story has been viewed 1878 times.