UNLV forward Anthony Bennett announced that he intends to declare for the 2013 NBA Draft on Monday.
“This is a great opportunity for me to be able to support my family, but I know it is not going to be easy,” Bennett told reporters. “I am ready to learn and work hard. As you can see, I have mixed emotions about this. It is not the easiest decision to make. A lot of things made it a tough decision: the fans, my teammates and the coaches to name a few.”
The Brampton Ont, native was named honorable mention AP All-America after a strong freshman campaign in which he led the Runnin’ Rebels in both scoring (16.1 ppg) and rebounding (8.1 rpg).
Bennett is expected to be a top-10 pick in June’s NBA Draft.
He earned several honours after the season as he was selected Mountain West Freshman of the Year, named as a member of the Sporting News’ All-Freshman Team and was also a part of the United States Basketball Writers Association’s Freshman All-America Team. Bennett was also named First Team All-Mountain West and to the USBWA’s All-District VIII Team as well as selected to the MW Championships All-Tournament Team.
After helping UNLV to a 25-10 season, Bennett and the Running Rebels were knocked out of the NCAA tournament with a 64-61 loss to the Cal Bears in their opening game.