COLLEGE BASKETBALL \ News and notes

Oklahoma: Once Blake Griffin stopped and really thought about his future, it didn’t take long for him to reach a decision. Griffin will give up his final two years of eligibility and head to the NBA after a sophomore season in which he was honored as college basketball’s top player. It was a choice coach Jeff Capel called a “no-brainer,” with Griffin establishing himself as a likely candidate to be the No. 1 overall pick in the draft this June. “I felt in my mind from the time that I actually thought about it that this would be the right decision,” said Griffin. “I remember talking to Coach Capel last year after I made my decision of coming back and he said I had the chance to be in this position and I should take it. This has been a dream for me. It has been a dream for a lot of guys. I was really comfortable with the decision this time around.” Griffin helped the Sooners win 30 games in a season for only the fifth time in school history, shattering the school records for double-doubles and rebounds along the way. He said it was now time to take his game to the next level. “It’s tough to walk away from something like this but at the same time, it’s a big opportunity and I felt like I was ready for it this year,” Griffin said. After declaring last year he would stay at Oklahoma for at least one more season, Griffin said he wanted to be able to contribute immediately in the NBA before he would turn pro. For him to feel like he was “100 percent sure” that he was ready, he said he’d probably have to be in line to be the No. 1 pick in the draft. Griffin led the nation with 30 double-doubles and 14.4 rebounds per game while also averaging a Big 12-best 22.7 points. In the NCAA tournament, he was even better — averaging 28.5 points and 15 rebounds to lead the Sooners to the regional finals, where they lost to eventual national champion North Carolina.

Other early entrants: Kentucky junior guard Jodie Meeks and South Carolina junior Devan Downey will submit their names for the NBA draft, but will not hire an agent. Meeks, a junior, averaged 23.7 points for the Wildcats last season. Downey averaged 19.8 points and 4.5 assists a game, ranking third in the SEC in both categories. He led the league with 2.9 steals a game. By declaring for the draft early, they can work out for NBA teams and get advice about their draft standing, pulling their names if he they aren’t projected to go as high as they’d like. They have until June 15 to remove their names from the draft list and keep their remaining year of eligibility.

UCF: Michael Jordan’s youngest son says he’ll play basketball at Central Florida next season. Marcus Jordan, a 6-foot-3, 180-pound senior guard at Chicago Whitney Young, made up his mind after visiting the campus in Orlando, Fla., last week. Last month, the younger Jordan scored a game-high 19 points to lead Whitney Young to a 69-66 victory over Waukegan in the Illinois Class 4A championship. His older brother, Jeff Jordan, plays basketball for the University of Illinois.

Associated Press