TJ Leaf has announced he will leave UCLA for the 2017 NBA Draft.

"This was a huge decision for me and my family," Leaf said Thursday. "It was definitely one of the hardest decisions in my life.

"This was the most fun year of basketball I've had in my entire life, and I will definitely miss it. But, I cannot wait to start my new journey."

Leaf averaged 16.3 points and 8.2 rebounds.

Leaf is expected to be a mid-first round selection.

Frank Mason has been named the Associated Press Player of the Year.

Mason averaged 20.9 points per game for Kansas.

Kansas lost last week to Oregon in the Elite 8.

“I haven’t yet,” Mason said when asked if he had put the loss behind him yet. “I’ve still been thinking about it. It’s been on my mind a lot. And I just have to move on to what’s next and look at the bigger picture and focus on everything I can control."

Lauri Markkanen has announced he will leave Arizona for the NBA Draft.

Markkanen is expected to be a top-10 pick in the draft.

Markkanen averaged 15.6 points and 7.2 rebounds for the Wildcats while shooting 42.3 percent on three-pointers.

Anthony Grant has left the Oklahoma City Thunder to become head coach of Dayton.

Grant had been an assistant coach for the Thunder and was formerly head coach of Alabama. Grant played for Dayton in the 1980s.

"Anthony Grant is a proven winner with the highest integrity," Dayton athletic director Neil Sullivan said in a statement. "He has successful experience in coaching, recruiting and playing basketball at an elite level. I welcome Anthony to our staff and look forward to partnering with him as we continue to aggressively pursue graduating student-athletes, winning conference championships and advancing in the NCAA tournament. He is absolutely the right coach."

Grant was an assistant coach for Billy Donovan with the Thunder for the past two seasons.

Dennis Smith will leave N.C. State after his freshman season to declare for the 2017 NBA Draft.

"It's always been my dream to try and play in the NBA," Smith told ESPN's Paul Biancardi. "The timing is perfect for me and my family to make this decision. I want to thank all my teammates, coaches and the fans of NC State. I am thankful for Coach [Mark] Gottfried and all that he has done for me."

Smith averaged 18.1 points, 6.2 assists and 4.6 rebounds per game.

Smith is expected to be a top-10 pick in the draft.

Lonzo Ball and Markelle Fultz are widely considered the top-2 players in the 2017 NBA Draft class. The two players figure to be compared to each other endlessly between now and June's draft.

"Markelle's a great player, but I feel I'm better than him," said Ball. "I think I can lead a team better than him," Ball added. "Obviously he's a great scorer -- he's a great player, so I'm not taking that away from him."

Fultz averaged 23.2 points, 5.7 rebounds and 5.9 assists per game as a freshman this season, but Washington had a 9-22 record.

Ball averaged 14.6 points and 7.7 assists per game while leading UCLa to the Sweet 16.

Harry Giles has announced he will declare for the 2017 NBA Draft after one season at Duke.

Giles is expected to be a mid-first round pick. Giles was previously considered a probable top-5 pick in this draft class before suffering a number of injuries.

Giles tore the ACL in his right knee when a high school senior and then underwent left knee surgery in October, which limited his appearances with Duke.

Giles averaged 3.9 points and 3.8 rebounds in 11.5 minutes with Duke.

Drew Eubanks will declare for the 2017 NBA Draft but not hire an agent.

Eubanks averaged 14.5 points, 8.3 rebounds and 2.2 blocks in 32 games this season for Oregon State.

Eubanks is projected to go 42nd overall in Draft Express' mock draft for 2018.

Becky Hammon has turned down an offer to become head coach at the University of Florida's women's team to remain with the San Antonio Spurs as an assistant coach.

While Florida's offer was more than Hammon is receiving with the Spurs, it was in the lower tier for the SEC.

Hammon considered the job for a few days before reaching her decision.

Hammon has long wanted to become the NBA's first female head coach.

Billy Donovan denied a report that he traveled to Bloomington, Indiana to discuss the Indiana University head coaching vacancy.

Indiana has since hired Archie Miller as head coach to replace Tom Crean.

Justin Albers of AlbersAngle.com reported on Friday, citing sources, that Donovan had been in Bloomington that morning.

“Yesterday morning, I was here in practice,” Donovan said. “I was not there. I was here in practice and actually was in a couple meetings, and then went to Russell (Westbrook's) bowling charity last night.”

Donovan was previously asked about the job when it became available in mid-March.

“I love it here,” Donovan said at the time. “I love the guys I work with every day. I love our staff, the organization. As far as I’m concerned, my commitment is totally here and doing the best job I can while I’m here.”

Donovan is in his second season as head coach of the Oklahoma City Thunder after leaving the University of Florida.