March 28, 2005
Arizona State University head basketball coach Rob Evans has announced that junior All-American forward Ike Diogu will enter his name in the 2005 NBA Draft but plans to keep his NCAA eligibility options open.
Diogu has scored 1,946 points in his 91-game career (21.4 points per game). He already is ASU's third all-time leading scorer and is 19th on the Pac-10 career list. He was named a second-team All-American by the Associated Press, the USBWA, the NABC and Basketball Times.
"Ike is so talented that it is obvious that he needs to explore his options at this time, and the NBA has a very good program to help him, " said Arizona State head coach Rob Evans. "Arizona State is behind him and we are going to do whatever Ike feels is best for him and his family, and that includes but is not limited to gathering all the information that is available to him regarding his draft status."
"I want to declare for the NBA Draft, leaving my options open without having an agent," said Diogu, the 2005 Pac-10 Player of the Year.
Diogu does not plan to attend any of the NBA Draft camps but will participate in private workouts for NBA teams. Underclassmen have until May 14 to declare for the June 28 NBA Draft, but they can remove their names up until June 21.
He led the Pac-10 in scoring (22.6 ppg.), rebounding (9.8 rpg.) and blocks (2.34 bpg.), the first Pac-10 player to lead the league in all three categories. He played 13 40-minute games on the year. The Garland, Texas, native has scored in double digits in all 91 games of his career. He made 248 free throws on the year, breaking his own Pac-10 record of 243 set last year.
With 671 made free throws in his career, Diogu trails only UCLA's Don MacLean (711 from 1988-92) in the Pac-10 record book. His 854 attempts is second only to Stanford's Adam Keefe (886 from 1988-92).
He posted a Pac-10 leading 15 double-doubles and has 11 30-point games (six this past year) and 50 20-point games (a league-leading 21 this year) in his career.
Ike Diogu 2004-2005 Top Honors Associated Press Second-Team All-American NABC Second-Team All-American USBWA Second-Team All-American Basketball Times Second-Team All-American 2005 Pac-10 Player of the Year Three-Time All-Pac-10 Selection (2003, 2004, 2005) 2003 Pac-10 Freshman of the Year Three-Time Pac-10 Player of the Week in 2004-2005