Pitt sophomore forward, DeJuan Blair was at the very least going to test the NBA draft waters. Most mock drafts have Blair being drafted mid-way in the first round despite being a 6-7 power forward. Blair has decided that he will not even pretend that there is a chance that he will come back to Pitt. He has retained an attorney to help him, though he has not hired an NBA-certified agent as of yet. The hiring of an attorney, though, means that Blair has surrendered his remaining eligibility. He has a press conference scheduled for later this afternoon to make an official statement.
Blair landed on every first team All-American squad, and is a finalist for the Wooden Award and other national player of the year awards. Arguably his draft stock would not get much higher. More likely, coming back for another year would give NBA scouts more opportunity to poke holes in his game and decide that he did not improve enough from his sophomore to junior year. Diminishing his perceived upside and potential.
