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Joel Embiid officially declares for the NBA Draft

Joel Embiid

AP

In a move that surprised absolutely nobody, Joel Embiid officially announced that he will be entering his name into the NBA Draft.

“Looking at different scenarios and gathering info of what was best for me,” Embiid said. “Either way was best for me.”

“Talking to my mentor, it was best the choice.”

Embiid averaged 11.2 points, 8.1 rebounds and 2.6 blocks in his 28 games, but he missed time late in the season, including both the Big 12 tournament and the NCAA tournament, because of a stress fracture that he suffered in his back. He was projected as the No. 1 pick in the draft for the majority of the season, but he could slip to No. 3 if teams are not convinced that his back in healthy.
MORE:The entire list of players entering the 2014 NBA Draft

Embiid follows Andrew Wiggins to the NBA, but Kansas did get some good news with Wayne Selden returning to school. They add Kelly Oubre and Cliff Alexander, and are right in the mix for Myles Turner as well. Even without Embiid, the Jayhawks were No. 4 in our preseason top 25 poll.

“The bottom line is he’s disappointed absolutely no one in our program,” Self said. “I don’t think he could have made a bad decision, but I think he made a good decision.”