Williams declares for NBA Draft

Terrapin men's basketball forward Jordan Williams has filed paperwork to enter the 2011 NBA Draft, coach Gary Williams confirmed yesterday, a development that could severely hurt the team's chances of returning to the NCAA Tournament next season.

The sophomore All-ACC selection, who averaged a team-leading 16.9 points and 11.8 rebounds this season, does not plan on hiring an agent and has the option to return to the university for his junior season, the team said in a release.

"I'm excited about testing the waters and seeing where I would be," Williams said in the release. "It's always been a dream of mine to play at the next level."

Williams has until May 8 to withdraw his name from the pool of draft-eligible players. If he opts not to return, the sophomore will forfeit his remaining two years of college eligibility.

Williams' decision will be pivotal to the Terp program, which two weeks ago ended a disappointing 19-14 campaign with its first postseason absence in 17 years. The 6-foot-10 forward was one of the lone bright spots for the team this season, breaking the program's record for double-doubles in a season with 24 while becoming one of the nation's most dominant inside forces.

Still, his professional prospects remain unclear. At best, Williams is considered a fringe first-round draft pick by some NBA Draft pundits, and many others have him going in either the second round or undrafted. Only first-round picks are guaranteed contracts in the NBA, whose future is also shaky with the league's collective-bargaining agreement set to expire and a possible lockout looming.

"We talked to him today, talked to his dad also," Gary Williams said on Comcast SportsNet's Washington Post Live yesterday. "He's testing the waters like good players do today and just finding out where he is in terms of the NBA Draft."

His development, along with the rise of freshman guards Pe'Shon Howard and Terrell Stoglin, had seemingly put the Terps in position to return to the NCAA Tournament next season.

"The big thing is, we're here to be in the NCAA Tournament," Gary Williams said in a March 14 interview on Comcast SportsNet. "We're not here to make the NIT. So just like Connecticut, UCLA, [North] Carolina last year, who weren't in the NCAA Tournament, we'll be back in it next year. We'll work hard to get there."

Should Williams decide to remain in the draft, the Terps would enter the 2011-12 season without their starting frontcourt from this past year. Williams and forward Dino Gregory, who is graduating this spring, were the only two Terps to start every game this season.

Without them, the Terps would be left with forwards Ashton Pankey, Haukur Palsson and James Padgett and center Berend Weijs in the frontcourt next season. Martin Breunig, a 6-foot-9 German forward who committed to play for the Terps last month, is also expected to compete for playing time.

Williams' destination is far from solidified, though. He is allowed to attend pre-draft workouts and receive feedback from scouts while maintaining his amateur status.

Williams ultimately could take a route not unlike that which former Terp Greivis Vasquez opted for two years ago. The guard filed paperwork to enter the draft after his junior season with the Terps before deciding to come back after gathering information about his standing in the draft.

The decision to return ultimately paid off for Vasquez, who was drafted in the first round last year by the Memphis Grizzlies after a successful senior campaign that included an ACC regular-season championship.

"What I think Greivis did his junior year, was that he impressed people in the workouts but not enough that they would guarantee being a first-round draft pick," Gary Williams said on Comcast SportsNet yesterday. "It's really important that you have that insurance. Greivis did not get that insurance, and that's why he came back."

Guard John Gilchrist was the last Terp to leave this university early, turning pro in 2005. Forward Chris Wilcox was the last sophomore, forgoing his final two years to enter the 2002 NBA Draft just months after helping win the Terps' first national title.

Whether Williams follows their lead or Vasquez's will be clear in fewer than 40 days.

"Reality, hopefully, is out there, and we'll get a good idea of what that is," Gary Williams said. "When he has to make a decision, we'll certainly be talking to a lot of NBA people."

ceckard at umdbk dot com