Nikola Vucevic to enter NBA draft


By
 in ,

In the final home games of the season, the USC student section would chant “one more year,” imploring junior forward Nikola Vucevic to return for his senior season.

In a press conference at the Galen Center Friday afternoon, Vucevic announced that he would, instead, declare for the NBA draft, and sign with an agent, Rade Filipovich of BDA Sports Management, meaning that he is forfeiting the rest of his collegiate eligibility.

“It was a tough decision,” Vucevic said. “I thought that if I came back we could have done a lot of good stuff, but at the same time, I wanted to take the next step in my life.”

Had Vucevic not signed with an agent, he would have had until May 8 to withdraw his name and return to college for his senior season.

“I feel like if you do something, you have to go into it 100 percent,” Vucevic said. “It is a lot easier when you have somebody who can take care of the scheduling part.”

Vucevic said that he plans to continue taking classes this semester while preparing for the NBA draft, and to take summer school so that he can eventually graduate.

“I am not thinking about where I am going to be drafted,” Vucevic said. “I just want to do my best at the workouts and impress people.”

This past season, the 6-foot-10 Vucevic averaged 17.1 points and 10.3 rebounds per game, and was named to the All-Pac-10 First-Team. He had a double-double in his final eight regular season Pac-10 games.

Vucevic was the leading scorer and rebounder for the Trojans, who lost to Virginia Commonwealth in the first round of the NCAA tournament.

“Nikola’s great advantage is that he is going to be able to guard [NBA power forwards and centers], which very few people can do,” said USC coach Kevin O’Neill. “He is going to have to become an NBA three-point shooter. The lines on an NBA court are considerably longer, and it is a huge adjustment.”

With forward Alex Stepheson set to graduate, USC will have an inexperienced frontcourt next season. The Trojans’ post rotation will include transfers James Blasczyk, DeWayne Dedmon and Aaron Fuller, as well as Curtis Washington, who played sparingly as a freshman.

“Curtis is a lot like me when I was a freshman,” Vucevic said. “He is a young guy who works really hard everyday. He is one of the guys who works the hardest on the team.”

O’Neill said that he plans to recruit one or maybe two new players.

“When you lose a guy like [Vucevic], obviously it is going to be a blow to you,” O’Neill said. “It is our job with the guys coming in, and whoever else we end up signing in the late period, to make sure that we have a team that can be competitive in the Pac-10 and get into the postseason.”