Don’t be too hard on Kelenna Azubuike.

Is Kentucky’s junior forward making a mistake by not only declaring himself eligible for June’s NBA Draft, but also signing with an agent, thus ending his eligibility? Of course.

Is the Oklahoma native ready for the world of professional basketball? Of course not.

The guess here is that Azubuike will be playing next year in Europe, not the NBA.

But there are extenuating circumstances in the Azubuike case. There are family considerations. Kenneth Azubuike, Kelenna’s father, later this month will begin a 48-month jail sentence after being convicted of 41 counts of fraud and told to pay a $340,000 fine.

Very few of us know what that is like, to have our father and our family in such a position. How he dealt with his father’s sins brought admiration for the son.

Kelenna didn’t duck. True, we in the media were told not to question Kelenna about his father. The first inquiry would bring an immediate end to the interview, we were told. And, aside from an occasion or two, the media stuck to the bargain.

Still, Kelenna could have used the predicament as a convenient excuse to skip all contact. He didn’t. He was there at almost all the day-before-game press briefings and at the post-game news conferences, as well. There, he seemed more amused than offended by the teasing.

Some might see that as a fault. Many wished him quicker to anger, criticized him for not showing more fire on the court. And to make it at the next level, Azubuike is going to have to raise his game. That was to be his goal for his senior season. That goal will be harder to reach against older, tougher, more-talented players.

For its grand history, Kentucky has not had many players leave early for the draft. Marquis Estill, the center from Richmond, was the last, though his reasons were academic-related. He went undrafted.

Nazr Mohammed left after UK’s 1998 NCAA title run. The junior had averaged 12 points in just 21 minutes per game that year. He was taken with the 29th pick in the first round by Utah and has played for four teams since.

Ron Mercer left after UK’s 1997 NCAA runner-up season. That was his sophomore season. He was the sixth player taken in the 1997 Draft.

Antoine Walker left after UK’s 1996 NCAA title. He was the sixth player taken in the 1996 draft.

To their credit, the vast majority of the league’s fans did not take advantage of Azubuike’s troubles. There were some taunts as the victorious Cats left the floor at Alabama. The Florida students occasionally broke into a “Where’s Your Daddy?” chant when Azubuike was at the free-throw line.

Joe Crawford left UK for a week in January over a lack of playing time. Part of the reason most thought the freshman should return to UK was, “You never know what’s going to happen.”

In this case, now we know.

Just as we were right not to be too hard on Crawford for his January pique, we should not be too hard on Azubuike for his April exit.

We’re not in his position.