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Tuesday, June 19
Updated: June 20, 10:28 AM ET
Kentucky keeps both Bogans, Prince
ESPN.com news services
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Tuesday, June 19
Kentucky received some great news when sophomore point guard Keith Bogans decided to pull his name out of the NBA draft. It is the right news. This is an intelligent move, and Bogans' mother is ecstatic because she wanted him to continue his education.
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Sophomore guard Keith Bogans has decided to return to Kentucky for his junior season, joining SEC player of the year Tayshaun Prince in his decision to withdraw his name from the NBA draft.
"I'm very excited that Tayshaun and Keith have decided to return," Smith said. "They both tested the waters, found out where they stood and have chosen to come back. I'm glad I'll have a chance to coach them both next season."
Bogans made his decision after not performing to his expectations at the NBA pre-draft camp this month. Prince took his name out of the draft earlier this month. Both could do so because neither signed with an agent after declaring early for the draft on May 7. The deadline for such underclassmen to withdrawl their names is today at 5 p.m. ET. Four other players -- Damien Wilkins (N.C. State), Jerry Green (UC Irvine), Bobby Simmons (DePaul) and Trenton Hassell (Austin Peay) -- remained undecided Tuesday on their professional plans.
The 6-foot-5, 205-pound Bogans was the Wildcats' leading scorer (17.0 ppg) last season and was named to the all-Southeastern Conference second team. Prince, a 6-9 senior forward, averaged 16.9 points and a team-leading 6.5 rebounds per game last season to earn second-team All-America honors.
Prince currently ranks 31st on UK's career scoring list with 1,215 points and has a chance to finish as one of the Wildcats' top-10 scorers of all-time. Bogans needs just 12 points to become Kentucky's 49th 1,000-point scorer.
"I have decided to return for my junior year," Bogans said. "I was in a win-win situation. My dream is to play in the NBA someday, but after testing the system, it's in my best interest to return to Kentucky. I'll now have the chance to continue playing college basketball for one of the best coaches in country while helping my team compete for the national championship next season."
Kentucky finished with a 24-10 record and was crowned SEC regular-season and tournament champion. The Wildcats lose only one letterman from last season, point guard Saul Smith, and add four newcomers to the roster.
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