Wow...Pitt may be in some trouble next yr if Taft and Krauser both leave

Jackson



Taft states plan for draft; Pitt's Krauser likely next
Pittsburgh sophomore forward Chris Taft announced Monday on ESPN2's Cold Pizza he would declare for and stay in the NBA draft.

Taft is declaring for the NBA draft after his sophomore season at Pitt.Pittsburgh coach Jamie Dixon told ESPN.com's Andy Katz that he also expected junior point guard Carl Krauser to declare for the draft

Taft averaged 13.3 points a game and 7.5 rebounds, good for third in scoring and second in rebounding on the team.

Krauser led the Panthers with 16 points and 5.9 assists. Dixon said he doesn't expect Krauser to sign with an agent. Dixon said he would expect Krauser to keep his options open to return to school, but said Krauser told him he wanted to go to the Chicago pre-draft camp in June.

Taft, at 6-feet-10, 260 lbs., is likely to be among the lottery picks in the draft, according to ESPN Insider Chad Ford.

He has the rare combination of size, athleticism, strength and power that had NBA scouts calling him a top-three pick before the season began.

While his lackluster performance during the regular season raised serious questions about his work ethic and attitude, his performance in the first round of the NCAA Tournament should have helped to resurrect his draft stock.

If he can follow up his solid tournament performance with some great individual workouts, Taft's stock will rise. He's not the stellar prospect he was at the beginning of the season, but in the right system, with the right motivation, Taft still has the most potential of any big guy on the board.

Most scouts still have Taft rated between the Nos. 5 and 10 picks.


With senior forward Chevon Troutman also leaving, Pitt might lose its top three scorers from the 20-9 team that lost its second-round Big East tournament game to Villanova and its only NCAA Tournament game. The Panthers had played in the Big East title game the previous four seasons and reached the NCAA round of 16 the previous three seasons, with Taft, Troutman and Krauser as key performers in the 2003-04 and 2002-03 seasons.

After a 10-0 start this season, Pitt finished with only 10 wins in its last 19 games, with surprise losses to Bucknell, St. John's, Georgetown and two losses to Big East rival West Virginia.


ESPN.com senior writer Andy Katz, ESPN Insider Chad Ford and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Doubt he goes that high--he should stay for another year.