COLLEGE FOOTBALL Miami's Hester will announce draft intentions

MIAMI (AP) -- With speculation rampant that he'll skip his senior season, Miami kick returner Devin Hester will announce today whether he'll enter the NFL draft or return for one more year with the Hurricanes.
Hester's family scheduled a news conference for the junior to reveal his choice. Miami officials said Sunday night that they had not heard if Hester, one of the nation's top return specialists, has definitively decided one way or another.
Over his first three seasons, Hester -- who has played cornerback, running back and wide receiver for Miami, plus run back kickoffs and punts -- has given the Hurricanes an average of 17.7 yards every time he touches the football.
On 117 interception returns, kick returns, catches and carries, he's totaled 2,070 yards. He was primarily used as a cornerback this season for the Hurricanes.
Has company
Hester is one of at least three Hurricanes -- including defensive lineman Baraka Atkins and wide receiver Ryan Moore -- who are considering entering the draft.
He did apply to the NFL advisory council in an effort to gauge his draft position, although it's unknown what that committee may have told Hester -- whose father died of cancer about a decade ago, and whose mother spent several years unable to work after suffering serious injuries in a 1993 automobile accident.
If Hester turns pro, he'd be the 11th Miami player in the last five years to leave school early for the draft. Seven of them -- Sean Taylor, Kellen Winslow and Vince Wilfork in 2004, Andre Johnson and Willis McGahee in 2003 and Jeremy Shockey and Philip Buchanon in 2002 -- were first-round picks.
Clinton Portis was a second-round pick in 2002. Last year, Roscoe Parrish was a second-round selection, and Frank Gore went in the draft's third round.