http://riceowls.cstv.com/sports/m-baskbl/spec-rel/061606aab.html June 16, 2006 Rice University basketball and Conference USA leading scorer, Morris Almond, a certain All-America selection for 2007, has announced that he has withdrawn his name from the 2006 National Basketball Association Draft and will return to Rice to complete his basketball eligibility and to earn his bachelor's degree. Almond has sent a letter of this notification to Bobby May, Rice athletic director, and to the NBA. "A phenomenal opportunity awaits me and the team next year and that is primed to have one of the best seasons in school history," said Almond. "Plus the fact that I am on pace to graduate as well as to enhance my status for next year's draft, this was the best decision for me." Almond made this important decision after weighing all of the feedback and information he has collected since he entered his name. "In the end it ultimately came down to the feedback that I recevied. For a lot of teams it was their first time to see me on a national stage (in Orlando) and they were curious because of the numbers I had put up during the season. It also came down to being a second round pick this year or come back and with another year of seasoning and be a first round pick next year." Rice head basketball coach Willis Wilson was certainly elated with today's news. "It's the biggest recruit of the year for our program and maybe the biggest recruit of the decade for our program. Morris is knocking on the door of achieving a great dream to play in the NBA... He's also on the verge of receiving his degree from one the great institutions in the country." "The credit has to go to Morris and his Dad (Willie) for everything that they've done through the process to gather all of the feedback," says Wilson. Every NBA person that I've spoken with, coaches included, said that they thought that the Almonds did a great job and that they are probably the model on how to handle this situation. I had the opportunity to see Morris play in Orlando at the pre-draft camp and there's no question he helped himself and I think he opened some eyes. There were some top-line people in the NBA that didn't think he could improve himself for next year and after Orlando that tune changed significantly." Almond previously declared his name for the 2006 NBA Draft on April 17. The deadline for early entrants to withdraw themselves is June 18. This past season, Almond, a 6' 6" senior-to-be, led the Owls and Conference USA in scoring at 21.9 points per game. In 14 Conference USA games, Almond set a league record by averaging 25.1 points per contest and he also shared team rebounding honors with J.R. Harrison by averaging 5.8 rebounds a game (10th-best in C-USA). For his exploits, Almond was named to the All-Conference USA first team in addition to being selected to all-region teams by the NABC and the USBWA. Heading into his senior season, Almond has scored 981 career points. Almond Timeline: • April 17: Declares for NBA Draft as an Early Entrant • May 8: Works out for the Cleveland Cavaliers • May 10: Works out for the Houston Rockets • May 19: Works out for Phoenix Suns • May 22: Works out for the Los Angeles Lakers • May 24: Works out for the Golden State Warriors • June 6-10: Attends NBA Pre-Draft Camp in Orlando • June 16: Withdraws his name from 2006 NBA Draft He should be a first round pick in 2007. Nobody really knew him before when he declared but he has improved his stock so much since. He would have been a 2nd round pick but he made the right decision.
