Alabama basketball player Richard Hendrix announced on Wednesday that he will enter his name in the NBA draft, but left open the option to return for his senior year because he does not plan to sign with an agent. The 6-foot-9 power forward was a first-team All-Southeastern Conference selection in 2008, when he averaged a team-best 17.8 points and a league-high 10.1 rebounds per game.
He said that both his family and Crimson Tide coach Mark Gottfried support his decision.
"I'm going into this procedure with the highest hopes and the best expectations," Hendrix said. "It's always been a goal of mine to play at the next level. When the opportunity presents itself, I want to give it a try."
Under NBA rules, players have until June 16 (10 days before the draft) to remove their names from consideration and return to college, provided they have not signed with an agent.
Hendrix will graduate in May with a communication degree, at which point he will continue working out on his own while he waits for an anticipated invitation to the official NBA pre-draft camp, set for May 27-June 3 in Orlando, Fla.
Draft projections on Hendrix vary, with some online mock drafts pegging him as a first-round pick (which carries with it a guaranteed contract) and others not. ESPN.com has Hendrix going late in the first round (No. 29 overall to Detroit), while NBADraft.net has him falling all the way to the mid-second round (Indiana at No. 40).
But those rankings will fluctuate almost daily from now until the June 26 draft day, as more players enter the draft or pull their names out. Still other players will see their stock rise or fall based on their performance in the NCAA tournament or in various pre-draft workouts.
"I think Richard has done a good job and his family has done a good job just trying to evaluate everything," Gottfried said. "He wants to go after this full-speed-ahead, and I want to support him in that. He's going to be very cautious, and I'm confident he's going to make a great decision."
Alabama has not lost a player early to the NBA draft since 2003, when sophomore point guard Mo Williams was a second-round pick by the Utah Jazz (he now plays for the Milwaukee Bucks).
. Gottfried was also asked about his future with Alabama, and whether he had met with athletic director Mal Moore to discuss his status for next season. He said that he had not.
"It's been business as usual, getting ready for next year," Gottfried said. "We know we've got to get better. We've got to improve. Every individual player, coach, all of us - we understand that. We're just moving forward, getting started on next year."
Gottfried, 198-123 in 10 seasons at Alabama, has three years remaining on a contract that pays him $1.1 million per year. The Crimson Tide went 17-15 this past season, failing to make the NCAA tournament for the second straight year.
