| | By Andy Katz
ESPN.com
McDonald's All-American guard DeShawn Stevenson told his mother that
he will attend Kansas instead of declaring for the NBA draft, but the family
hasn't received written confirmation that Stevenson reached a qualifying
test score to play basketball his freshman year.
Genice Popps, Stevenson's mother, told ESPN.com Monday that her son
told her he wouldn't declare for the draft because he was eligible to play
at Kansas next fall. Stevenson signed with Kansas out of Washington High in
Fresno, Calif., last November.
Popps said she received a phone call from the Educational Testing Service
claiming that Stevenson had earned the necessary score to be eligible at
Kansas. But she said she was told by ETS that the score jumped 400 points
from his first Scholastic Assessment Test in 10th grade to his latest SAT on
April 8, when he took the test in Raleigh, N.C.
Stevenson was in Raleigh for
the Sonny Vaccaro Roundball Classic on April 10.
Jane Wung of ETS told ESPN.com that any score that jumps more than 350
points will be questioned. That doesn't mean an admission of wrongdoing. But
it does mean that the test would be reviewed.
"(A 350 or more jump) prompts us to take a look at it," said Tom Ewing, a
spokesperson for ETS. "The site isn't an issue. People take the test all
around the country. But just because a student's score goes up, we would
still need supporting evidence to nullify the score. Scores can jump for some
remarkable reasons and do go up dramatically. We don't want to penalize a
student for that."
If Stevenson's test is officially questioned or Popps doesn't hear
back from ETS with the qualifying score within the next few days,
Stevenson could be faced with another decision.
The deadline for declaring for the NBA draft is Sunday. Official
letters must be postmarked by May 14 and sent to the NBA office in New
York. The NBA will release an official list on May 19. Once a high school
athlete officially declares for the draft, he isn't eligible to play at an NCAA Division I school.
Stevenson hasn't sent a letter to the NBA, according to sources close to
Stevenson.
Stevenson is projected by NBA scouts as a late first-round pick if
the 6-foot-5 guard declares for the draft. One high school senior, 6-8
Darius Miles of East St. Louis, Ill., announced Friday that he will declare
for the draft.
Stevenson could attend Kansas as a partial qualifier if he doesn't
receive the necessary test score. The Big 12 allows one partial qualifier,
per school. Partial qualifiers can be on scholarship and practice but can't
play in games.
Andy Katz is senior writer at ESPN.com. | |
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