By
Keith Carmona
Arizona Daily Wildcat
After nearly a week of speculation, UA junior forward Richard Jefferson formally declared for the NBA Draft late Saturday.
While Jefferson's offensive numbers were down this season (11.3 points, 5.4 rebounds and 2.7 assists), his maturation into one of the nation's best defensive players coupled with a strong NCAA Tournament showing helped his professional stock rise.
"It has been a lifelong dream of mine to play in the NBA, and I feel like the time is right for me to go," Jefferson said in a statement released by the UA Sports Information Department. "I have enjoyed every minute as a member of this program."
Jefferson did not return phone messages left by the Wildcat.
Undergraduate assistant coach Josh Pastner said that Jefferson's decision came after he had discussed the matter with his parents and his coaches, so the announcement didn't catch them off guard.
"This wasn't really a huge surprise for us," Pastner said. "Given that Richard had a great tournament, and that he'd already heard from a lot of NBA sources that he might be a lottery pick, it seems like the right time. We would have loved to have Richard back next season, but we wish him well."
Last week, the UA coaching staff filed for NBA evaluations on Jefferson, junior forward Michael Wright and sophomore guards Gilbert Arenas and Jason Gardner, but Pastner said that those reports have not yet been fully processed and weren't a part of Jefferson's decision.
Entering the NCAA Tournament, Jefferson's draft status was in limbo.
But his chances of being a first round selection in the June 27 draft surged when he averaged 13.5 points and 6.3 rebounds while shooting 50 percent from the field in the six nationally-televised tournament games. He was also named to the All-Tournament team..
More importantly, though, Jefferson was the key to restricting Illinois' Frank Williams, the Big Ten Conference Player of the Year, and Michigan State's Jason Richardson, a second team All-American, to a combined 15 points on 5-of-26 shooting in Arizona's back-to-back wins.
"Richard's tenacious defense is what has helped him become a great NBA prospect," Pastner said. "It's really tough to speculate where guys are going to go (in the draft), but if he does well in the (pre-draft) workouts, I could see him somewhere in the top 15."
Pastner said that Arenas, Wright and Gardner are still in the midst of the decision-making process, but didn't feel that Jefferson's decision will affect theirs.
"Each one of the guys are taking a lot of time to talk about it with their families and with the coaching staff," Pastner said. "They all really want to get a feel for what would ultimately be best for their basketball careers. There's nothing I'd love more than to see all of them back (at Arizona), but that's not always the case."
Jefferson is only the third UA player to leave school early under head coach Lute Olson. He joins Brian Williams - now known as Bison Dele - who left in 1991, and Mike Bibby, who was drafted by Vancouver Grizzlies in 1998.
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