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Derrick Rose Leaves Memphis for NBA
Memphis freshman Derrick Rose announced he was heading to the NBA. Coach John Calipari also agrees to extend his contract with the school.
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April 15, 2008 (FPRC) -- Derrick Rose ended his first season by leading Memphis to the national championship game. There they were defeated by Kansas in overtime. Rose averaged 20.8 points in 6 NCAA tournament games. Rose helped Memphis reach an NCAA Division I record 38 victories last season. He states that he enjoyed his year in college but is ready to make the jump into the NBA. Even though he's excited about playing in the NBA, he regrets not winning a national title for Memphis. Rose came to Memphis as one of the top recruits. He spent the year in college only because of the NBA rule that requires a player to be at least one year removed from high school before entering the draft.
Rose is expected to be the top pick in June's NBA Draft. He averaged 20.8 points, 6.0 assists and 6.5 rebounds in the NCAA tournament and led the Tigers to the national title game. Rose has done everything to make a case for himself to be considered the number one overall pick in the 2008 NBA Draft. A few weeks ago, it was likely that Michael Beasley would claim that spot. Rose has now given the NBA a lot to consider.
"Derrick is one of the great players I've ever coached, but of even more importance, he is one of the greatest teammates I've been around," Coach John Calipari said in a statement. "We are forever indebted to Derrick and his family for what they did for not only this basketball program, but also for the University and the city of Memphis. It was a tremendous opportunity for me and the staff to coach such a fine person."
Memphis is still waiting to see if Chris Douglas-Roberts will enter the draft. Douglas-Roberts is the team's leading scorer and Conference USA Player of the Year. During the season, he said that he would submit his name into the NBA draft to see if there is any interest.
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Keywords:
NBA, NCAA, basketball |
