| | By Andy Katz
ESPN.com
Former Alabama sophomore guard Schea Cotton told ESPN.com Thursday
night that he will declare for the NBA draft Friday.
The 6-foot-6 Cotton, who led the Crimson Tide in scoring with 15.5 points a game,
said he will send a letter declaring his intention to the NBA on Friday. He said he has signed with Malibu-based agent Steve Kauffman.
The well-traveled Cotton, who once signed letters of intent in three
successive seasons to play at Long Beach State, UCLA and North Carolina State, with
stints at St. Thomas More Prep (Conn.) and Long Beach City College in
between, left the Tide after the end of the SEC tournament.
Cotton, who played in 27 of 29 games in his only season at Alabama,
said he returned to his Long Beach home to be near his father, James, who
had taken ill.
"I wanted to be with my family and financially I wanted to help," said Cotton, who starred at St. John Bosco (Calif.) High School.
"We didn't have a banner season, but we made the most of it and I was
forced to play out of position to help us win," said Cotton, who averaged
4.5 rebounds, shot 42.9 percent from the floor -- including 25.5 percent on 3-pointers -- in having to help replace injured center Jeremy Hays.
Cotton said he was never contacted by another university about
transferring after he withdrew from school. But he said he wasn't thinking
about anything else but his family, until he decided to declare for the
draft.
Cotton said he needs to be at the Chicago pre-draft camp (June 6-9)
to prove he belongs in the first round.
"I plan on playing in it," Cotton said. "I feel I've got ground to make up. I'm getting mixed messages with people saying I could be late first or early second."
Cotton's older brother, James, who starred at Long Beach State, left
school after his junior season and was drafted by Seattle in the second
round. James Cotton has since been released by Chicago and is a free agent.
But it was Schea who was the subject of more hype than any other Southern
California prep player. In 1993, Sports Illustrated did a story on Schea when he was
in the eighth grade.
"Words can't express how long it's been," Schea Cotton said. "I'm
looking forward to this situation. I've got a lot of concerns with the draft
but I think after the workouts and the pre-draft camp, I'll be fine. I'm
thankful to be at this point."
Cotton will be the 21st underclassmen to declare for the draft.
St. John's signee Darius Miles is expected to formally announce his intentions
to declare at a Friday news conference at East St. Louis (Ill.) High.
Decisions are still pending from fellow high school players Mario Austin
(Mississippi State signee) and Alton Ford (Houston signee), Texas' Chris
Mihm and Georgia Tech center Alvin Jones.
The deadline for declaring is May 14. The two-round NBA draft is
June 28.
Andy Katz is a senior writer at ESPN.com.
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