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University of Connecticut's Hasheem Thabeet, a 7-foot-3 center from Tanzania, has decided to enter the National Basketball Association draft, the university said Tuesday.
Thabeet, a two-time defensive player of the year in the Big East conference in which Connecticut plays, averaged 13.6 points, 10.8 rebounds and 4.2 blocked shots per game in helping the Huskies to a 31-5 record and a Final Four berth in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) tournament. "After spending time with my family and friends and speaking with Coach (Jim) Calhoun, I have decided to give up my final year at UConn and enter my name in the 2009 NBA Draft," Thabeet said in a statement released by the university. "I have had a great experience at Connecticut and cannot thank my coaches and teammates enough. I look forward to the challenge of playing professionally and know that my time here at UConn has prepared me to be successful in the future. "I also want to thank all of the fans in Husky Nation that have followed my career, especially those from my homeland of Tanzania, and hope they will all be as supportive of me at the professional level as they have been to this point." Calhoun called Thabeet "one of the most dominant defensive players in the history of college basketball." "I am certain that wherever he ends up in the NBA, he is ready to be equally successful," Calhoun said. "He is a special player and even more special as a person."
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