Arthur impresses in Florida pre-draft camp

Darrell Arthur not only took a physical, but worked out in front of NBA scouts Friday at the pre-draft camp.

“They had Arthur go through a light workout. He was coming off screens and shooting the ball well,” said Rodger Bohn of draftexpress.com. “He was posting up, hitting NBA threes, college threes on the move. He looked really good.”

Of Arthur’s decision to stay in the draft, Bohn said: “Nobody really has been talking about that because it’s what everybody expected him to do. It’s what everybody thought would happen.”

Releford invited to U.S. camp

KU freshman-to-be Travis Releford said he has been invited to attend USA Basketball’s Under 18 team tryout camp July 1-3 at the Verizon Center in Washington, D.C.

Thirty players will be invited to compete for 12 roster spots. The FIBA Americans Under 18 championships will be held July 14-18 in Formosa, Argentina.

Releford on Monday returned from Shanghai, China, where his Adidas Nations high school all-star team won an international tournament.

Releford said he averaged about 25 points a game for the Adidas squad.

“It felt like 30 (ppg),” he said with a laugh. “It was a long flight, about 12 hours, but a lot of fun once we got there. We got to go downtown on a tour. It’s really different from the U.S. A lot of people are on bikes driving them around instead of cars. Driving there was crazy.”

Releford said he watched nightly news reports on the devastating May 12 earthquake in Sichuan.

The temblor was felt thousands of miles away in Shanghai.

“Nobody (in Shanghai) was worried about it. We were nowhere near it,” Releford said.

Recruiting

Abdul Gaddy, a 6-foot-3 senior-to-be from Bellarmine High in Tacoma, Wash., on Friday backed out of his oral commitment to Arizona. He told Rivals.com he’s still considering UA as well as KU, Memphis, Texas, Oregon, Washington, Gonzaga and others..

Avery Bradley, a 6-3 senior, also from Bellarmine High, told Rivals he’s considering KU, Arizona, USC, Texas, UCLA and Washington.

Gaddy is ranked No. 14 and Bradley 17 in the Class of 2009.

Stephenson down to three?

Lance Stephenson, a 6-5 senior-to-be from Lincoln High in Brooklyn, N.Y., has narrowed his list of schools to KU, USC and UCLA, according to the Northwest Arkansas News. The country’s No. 7-rated player also has mentioned Indiana, Memphis, North Carolina, Seton Hall and others in the past.

More on KU trio

KU graduates Darnell Jackson, Sasha Kaun and Russell Robinson played their final games of the 2008 pre-draft camp on Friday in Orlando, Fla.

Jackson scored 10 points off 2-of-8 shooting and 6-of-7 free throwing in his final camp game.

Robinson finished the game with seven points and added two assists.

Kaun chipped in with three points and collected four rebounds.

“Robinson was very aggressive trying to score. He had his best game (at camp) by far. He played much better today,” said Bohn of draftexpress.com. “I would say of the three, Kaun has the best chance of getting drafted. Jackson could be a guy who goes on a summer-league team and impresses somebody enough to get invited to training camp.”