| | Associated Press
LAWRENCE, Kan. -- High school star DeShawn Stevenson will
turn pro, depriving Kansas coach Roy Williams of a player he
described as his most gifted recruit ever.
Stevenson has struggled with getting a qualifying score on the
SAT and apparently decided the trouble was not worth passing up
potential millions from the NBA
|  | | DeShawn Stevenson has opted for the NBA instead of Kansas. |
"This youngster is a fine young man who signed with KU in the
fall, and wanted to be a Jayhawk," Williams said Monday. "Now he
has decided to move in a different direction, and I understand and
support that. He has decided to pursue another dream and there is
nothing wrong with that."
Stevenson, 6-foot-5 and 210 pounds, is a McDonald's All-America
who averaged 28 points and nearly 11 rebounds as a senior at
Washington Union High School in Fresno, Calif. He was projected as
a likely starter next season for the Jayhawks at small forward or
shooting guard.
"This spring has been a very stressful time for DeShawn and his
family," said Williams, who had traveled to Fresno late last week
to meet with Stevenson. "Now that the decision has been made, we
in the Kansas basketball family should support him."
In early May Stevenson announced his intention to enter the NBA draft,
then reversed himself a few days later. Stevenson said he believed
he had achieved a qualifying score on the Scholastic Achievement
Test.
That changed again last week after he learned that his
dramatically improved SAT score had been disqualified.
Stevenson's SAT score, about 450 when he took it as a sophomore,
jumped to about 1,150 when he took the test again this year as a
senior, well above the 820 necessary for freshman eligibility at an
NCAA Division I school.
But the increase was so big it caught the attention of the New
Jersey-based Educational Testing Service, which apparently
red-flagged it.
That disqualification meant that if Stevenson enrolled at Kansas
he would not be able to play for the Jayhawks next season unless he
retook the test and achieved a qualifying score.
If he is drafted in the first round, as he believes will happen,
Stevenson will receive a guaranteed three-year contract valued
between $1.9 million and $9.4 million under the league's rookie
salary structure. The NBA plans to release a final list of early
entrants later this week. | |
ALSO SEE
Hodge: Stevenson, Austin pick NBA
Early-entry candidates for NBA draft
NBA draft: First-round projections
Disqualified SAT score has Stevenson again eyeing NBA
Test score has Fresno prep thinking Kansas, not NBA
Kansas signs Texas prep player Nash
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