Arthur tells media he’s headed to NBA
Kansas University power forward Darrell Arthur told reporters at the NBA pre-draft camp Friday that he has played his last game at KU.
Arthur, who is projected by many as a lottery pick in the draft, told Yahoo! Sports and Florida reporters that he would hire an agent next week.
“Yes, I’m coming out,” Arthur said in Orlando, Fla., referring to staying in the draft.
The 6-foot-9, 225-pounder, who just completed his sophomore year at KU, said he has individual workouts scheduled for the New Jersey Nets (June 4) and Charlotte Bobcats (June 6).
KU coach Bill Self said Friday he had not spoken with Arthur, but was not surprised by his decision to hire an agent and remain in the draft.
“We’ve anticipated this happening since last August,” Self said. “It’s not news to us at all. I think it’s good. Everybody knew ‘Shady’ would stay in.”
Arthur’s high school coach, South Oak Cliff’s James Mays, said he had no idea which agent Arthur would tap.
“Some lucky guy,” Mays said, laughing.
“I assumed it was headed this way. It looked like Darrell’s draft position was in the area he wanted it to be,” added Mays, who, like KU coach Self, has heard reports Arthur is a lock for the lottery (top 14 picks first round).
“I think this is good because it’ll benefit Darrell and his family. That’s the most important thing to him – his family.”
Mays said he was still planning to take legal action against a former South Oak Cliff math teacher who accused Mays and the former school principal of changing Arthur’s failing math grades to passing marks.
“It’s in the hands of the lawyers,” Mays said. “It’s the principle of the matter. This shouldn’t happen to a bad kid, much less a good one like Darrell.”
He said Arthur likely would take legal action against the former math teacher sometime after the June 26 NBA Draft.
Mays is confident a school district investigation ultimately will prove the math teacher’s charges were unfounded.
“There was some positive feedback the other day on reports we were trying to get. Without saying too much, this is a no-brainer. It should not be a problem,” Mays said.
Arthur commented on the grade flap Friday at the camp.
“It’s been pretty rough,” he said of the last few weeks. “I’m just trying to keep my mind focused on the task ahead of me. It kind of caught me off guard. I’m not even trying to think about that right now.”