Thabeet Declares for Draft; Chris Mack Coaching Xavier

As expected since the end of the season, Connecticut junior center Hasheem Thabeet has decided to forgo his final year of eligibility and enter the NBA Draft. "I have had a great experience at Connecticut and cannot thank my coaches and teammates enough," Thabeet said in a statement. "I look forward to the challenge of playing professionally and know that my time here at UConn has prepared me to be successful in the future." The 7-3 Thabeet is projected to be drafted in the top five of June's NBA Draft. "Hasheem is more than ready to make the move to the next level," head coach Jim Calhoun said. "He has been one of the most dominant defensive players in the history of college basketball and I am certain that where ever he ends up in the NBA, he is ready to be equally successful. He is a special player and even more special as a person. He will truly be remembered as one of the great players in UConn history, not only for his accomplishments, but also because of the type of person he is." Thabeet was a first-team All-American this season and a finalist for the Naismith award. He averaged 13.6 points, 10.8 rebounds and 4.2 blocks per game in helping lead the Huskies to the Final Four.

Xavier Promotes Mack to Head Coach

As first reported by Jason King of Yahoo! Sports and then confirmed by the university, Xavier will promote assistant coach Chris Mack to the head coaching position. The announcement will officially come at a press conference scheduled for 1 p.m. Wednesday. Mack will replace Sean Miller, who was hired last week by Arizona. He was an assistant for five seasons with the Musketeers after serving three seasons under the late Skip Prosser at Wake Forest. Since the outset, Mack had been rumored to be the favorite to replace Miller. He will take over a Sweet Sixteen team that loses just two players for next season.

DePaul's Tucker Enters Draft, Will Hire Agent

After various reports gave different indications as to what he was planning on doing, DePaul sophomore swingman Dar Tucker has announced that he is entering his name into the NBA Draft and will hire an agent. “After careful consideration, I have decided to enter my name in the 2009 NBA Draft,” Tucker said. “This decision did not come easy for me because of my feelings for DePaul University. Coach Wainwright, my family and I have talked about my future and together we all decided this was the best decision for me at this time based upon personal circumstances.” The 6-5 Tucker averaged 18.5 points and 5.4 rebounds per game this past season.

Other News and Notes

- VCU sophomore guard Joey Rodriguez is leaving the Rams and will transfer to Rollins College. (FOXSports.com)