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Kentucky’s Marcus Lee: ‘My plan is to go to the NBA’

Marcus Lee

Kentucky forward Marcus Lee dunks during the first half of a second-round men’s college basketball game against Indiana in the NCAA Tournament, Saturday, March 19, 2016, in Des Moines, Iowa. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)

AP

Marcus Lee has officially declared for the draft, and while he has yet to sign with an agent, all signs point toward the 6-foot-9 Kentucky center leaving school.

“My plan is to go to the NBA. That’s the only goal,” Lee told ESPN.com.

John Calipari announced earlier this spring that every member of his team -- from Tyler Ulis and Jamal Murray to the walk-ons -- had declared for the draft to take advantage of the new rule, and that is part of the reason that Lee is going public with this now. He doesn’t want NBA GMs to think his decision to enter his name in the draft is part of a publicity stunt by his college coach.

“I want people to know I am serious about this,” Lee said to ESPN.com. “I’ve talked to Coach Cal about this, and he definitely understands that I’m going to the NBA this year.”

He’s in a difficult spot. Lee was a top 30 recruit coming out of high school, but he spent his first two seasons at Kentucky playing behind Julius Randle, Karl Towns, Willie Cauley-Stein and the rest of the massive Wildcat front lines in recent seasons. He got a chance to play major minutes this season, but he was relatively ineffective, averaging just 6.4 points, 6.0 boards and 1.6 blocks.

In other words, he looks the part of a four-year guy at UK.

Lee is a likely second round pick.