Ohio junior •Armon Bassett will declare for the 2010 NBA Draft but will not hire an agent, according to a statement the team released yesterday.
“I would like to thank our basketball staff, and especially coach (John) Groce, for helping me through this process,” Bassett said in the statement. “At this point, I just want to explore all of my options and get the necessary feedback that will help me make an educated decision.”
Bassett has until May 8 to withdraw his name from the draft pool if he wants to do so.
“I feel comfortable with the decision he has made,” said coach John Groce at a news conference yesterday.
Bassett could be invited to pre-draft camps, which NBA teams use to scout and evaluate potential selections in the draft.
NBA teams cannot contact underclassmen until April 29. Groce said Bassett will have workouts May 1 and 2. According to NCAA rules, underclassmen are not allowed to workout during weekdays while school is in session.
Speculation arose a few weeks ago that Bassett planned to play professional basketball. He did not register for spring quarter classes at Ohio University until the end of the quarter’s first week.
Bassett led the Bobcats in scoring this past season. He averaged 17.1 points per game — fourth-best in the Mid-American Conference. But most of Bassett’s accolades came in the postseason, where he averaged 29 points per contest during Ohio’s victory in the MAC Tournament.
The Terre Haute, Ind., native scored 32 points in Ohio’s 97-83 victory against Georgetown in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
If Bassett does not withdraw his name from the draft, the Bobcats would have an open scholarship for next year. But the Bobcats have at least one open scholarship already, as redshirt junior Asown Sayles will not return to the team next year, Groce said in yesterday’s news conference.
