ESPN.com - NCB - Candid Jefferson allowed to change mind

Richard Jefferson got us, fooled us media types real good. Then again, asking him a week ago if he was going to declare for the NBA draft -- asking that question less than 20 minutes after losing the national title to Duke -- wasn't exactly good timing on our part.

Sure, he answered the question on camera. Sitting next to his best friend at Arizona, sophomore Luke Walton, Jefferson said he would come back for his senior season with the Wildcats. But he knew it wasn't his final answer. The postgame locker room wasn't the right place for him to make such a declaration.


	Richard Jefferson has the athleticism and defense to possibly be an NBA lottery pick.

It's for this very reason NBA scouts are reluctant to assume underclassmen like Jefferson, or players in the same situation like Duke's Jason Williams are returning to school -- even if they've made a public statement. Until the NBA's list comes out the week of May 13, no one will really believe these high-profile players are staying in school.

"You put us on the spot by asking us right then and there," Jefferson said of the scene in Minneapolis and subsequent announcement six days later that he wouldn't return for his senior season at Arizona. "I (couldn't) give you an educated answer at that point.

"You have to go back, sit with your family and your coach. Coach (Lute) Olson was all for it. That's why we go to a place like Arizona, so we can get put on a platform to go to the next level."

Jefferson's honesty after the fact has merit. Being too honest during the season would likely cause chaos.

"Can you imagine what would happen if after the game I said this is my last game? That would be the talk," Jefferson said. "Look at Jason Williams. I don't see what good it would do for him to stay another year. It's not like he's going to get more shots. He's a No. 1, 2 or 3 pick this year or next. He's got a national championship and done everything in college in two years. If he leaves, no one should say a word.

"If he said he was going during the year, people would look at every move he makes. Agents would jump on him. If he had a bad game, people would say he's thinking about the NBA. During the season, everyone gives the politically correct answers."

When Jefferson returned to campus, he said he was congratulated by fellow students and fans who said they were glad he was returning to school after hearing him say it on ESPN that Monday night.

"Little did they know over the (next) weekend that I would announce that I'm leaving," Jefferson said. "There's no way on Earth I'm coming back now."

Jefferson is checking out of school Monday, returning to Phoenix to start working out for the draft. He is expecting to attend the Chicago pre-draft camp June 5-8. Jefferson said he expects to go in the lower part of the lottery, but said he could move up depending on his workouts.

	“	Look at Jason Williams. I don't see what good it would do for him to stay another year. It's not like he's going to get more shots. He's a No. 1, 2 or 3 pick this year or next. He's got a national championship and done everything in college in two years. If he leaves, no one should say a word. ”
		— Richard Jefferson

He said all he needed to hear from the Arizona coaching staff was that he could definitely be a first-round pick.

His defensive presence in the NCAA Tournament pushed him over the edge. He held Illinois' Frank Williams and Michigan State's Jason Richardson to a combined 15 points and 5-of-26 shooting from the field in back-to-back games. His scoring picked up in the tourney as well, scoring 13.5 points and making 50 percent of his shots in six NCAA games. The 6-foot-7 Jefferson was billed as one of the best athletic wings this season.

"The most important thing is to get that clock going," Jefferson said of the rookie salary cap that locks in first-round picks for three guaranteed years and a fourth if the team picks up the option. In the a player's fifth NBA season, he can sign as a restricted free agent. "I want to go to a team where I can learn for a year or two, and then get more time."

Jefferson said he understands rookies aren't playing much in today's NBA, but he questions whether some of them are more concerned about "living the life" than working at being better players. Jefferson was cognizant of two of his classmates -- Stromile Swift and Mike Miller -- already in the NBA. He's also paying attention to the players at his position who haven't declared yet like Richardson, Alabama's Rod Grizzard and Tennessee's Vincent Yarbrough.

"Don't let anyone fool you, players look at other players at their position to see what they're doing," Jefferson said. "I know who's at my position. A lot of guys will wait to see who's leaving. In the next two weeks, you might see the number triple of guys declaring."

Underclassmen have until May 13 to declare and can return to school if they don't sign with an agent and pull their name from the draft by June 20 (one week before the June 27 draft in New York). Even if Jefferson were returning to school, he said catching up would be nearly impossible after missing most of the month of March.

"It's so difficult because in March, you're not a student-athlete, you're a straight athlete," Jefferson said. "If you get the wrong teacher, it's even harder where they might not give you a break to catch up. The other students are coming back from spring break. And we're like, can we get three or four days off? We've had the media and the emotional draining month, but we can't do it. We're exhausted and a month later we've got finals. It's not easy."

Jefferson said he promised his mother he would return and earn his degree. He said his mother went back to college when he was a senior in high school, earned her degree and is working on her masters.

Jefferson, who turns 21 on June 21, isn't the only one who is bolting from the runnerup Wildcats. Arizona already was losing senior centers Loren Woods and Eugene Edgerson, and guards Justin Wessel and Lamont Frazier. Junior forward Michael Wright joined Jefferson on Monday by announcing he too would skip his senior season. Sophomore guards Gilbert Arenas and Jason Gardner are also considering leaving for the NBA.

"The way I was looking at it was this was the team to win the national title, this was our best shot and after that I had to do what was best for me," Jefferson said. "It wasn't easy. I'm a hometown boy, grew up in Arizona and this will be the first time in my life I'll have to play basketball somewhere else."

Andy Katz is a senior writer at ESPN.com

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