Texas sophomore point guard T.J. Ford is expected to announce this week that he will leave the Longhorns early and enter the NBA draft on June 26.

A source close to the team said Ford would leave because it is in his best interest to do so. An announcement is expected this week, most likely Thursday.

For the next two months, it is the question that will hover over Troy Bell: Can he really be an NBA point guard?

From now until the June 26 draft, Bell, a Minneapolis native and Holy Angels graduate, will attempt to show he isn't simply a short shooting guard. He will try to show that even though he scored 2,632 points at Boston College -- only 20 players have ever scored more points in their collegiate careers -- he can distribute the ball and make good decisions.

NBA draft? Senior season at the University of Miami?

Forward Darius Rice has been weighing the options and will announce his decision Thursday. He is leaning toward staying in college, but the NBA seems enticing at times, he said.

The Seattle Times reports that while LeBron James and Carmelo Anthony are receiving all the hype in the United States, it may be Darko Milicic who will be the best player to come out in the NBA draft.

Many of the NBA's personnel have made the voyage to Europe to see the 7-foot phenom from Yugoslavia. 10 or more NBA personnel are expected to be in Greece to watch Milicic play in the final four of the International Basketball Federation Cup.

"There is a reason a lot of NBA people are going to Greece, and it's not because the fishing is good," said Milicic's agent, Marc Cornstein. "People want to see Darko in a competitive setting."

So far, Milicic is drawing rave reviews from most scouts, but it is unlikely he will pass James to be the number one pick in June.

"I would hate to be a general manager who has to make the No. 1 pick," said Lonnie Porter, a longtime college coach who recently watched tapes of Milicic. "It may be a blessing not to get No. 1, which without a doubt will be used to get LeBron James. By popularity, it goes LeBron James, Carmelo Anthony and then Darko Milicic.

"But the best player, in my opinion, is probably in this order. I am going to have to go with this kid Milicic, Carmelo two and LeBron three."

Tom Reid of the Akron Beacon-Journal and Chris Tomasson of the Rocky Mountain News report: At a news conference on Friday afternoon, 18-year old  St. Vincent-St. Mary High School star LeBron James officially announced that he is declaring for this June?s NBA Draft.

James, who is likely to be the first player selected in the draft, held the conference at his high school and it was broadcast by the Ohio News Network and ESPN2

He has wanted to play in the NBA since grade-school and is happy to take the first steps towards being drafted.

``It's been a longtime goal, and I'm happy it's finally coming true,'' James said.

At the news conference, James also said that he will play for the team that drafts him and believes he can make an immediate impact on the Cleveland Cavaliers or the Denver Nuggets.

``Whatever team decides to pick me on June 26, 2003, I won't let them down,'' said James. ``I'll look to be a leader on a team that is looking to get better from season to season.''

   "If I get drafted by the Cavs, they will be a lot better team than they were a year ago," James said. "As for Denver, the same thing goes."

 With the draft lottery coming up in about a month on May 22, James figures his future home is close to being decided and hopes to get acquainted with his new team as soon as possible.

"Hopefully, everybody says I'll be the No. 1 pick," James said. "I'll get to know a lot of my teammates when the (lottery) balls drop. Once those balls drop, I'm going to go build a relationship with the coaches and the team. It's not a lock that I'm going to be the No. 1 pick. But I want to get in some spring training."

"Whatever team picks me won't be disappointed.?

Darren Rovell of ESPN.com reports that the amount of money high school star LeBron James will get from a shoe company could depend on which team drafts him.

"The shoe companies definitely have an interest in what market LeBron will ultimately go to," said Tom Shine, senior vice president of global sports and entertainment for Reebok. "A large market is usually better than a small market and because so many people are watching highlight shows, an East Coast team is usually better than a West Coast team. If he's playing in a market like Seattle, the only time he'll consistently make the highlight shows will be at 7 a.m."

James is more likely to end up on the East coast with 3 of the bottom 5 teams being Cleveland, Toronto, and Miami.

"It's clearly better for him to play on a bad New York Knicks team than a bad Cleveland Cavaliers team," said Bob Dorfman, sports analyst for Pickett Advertising in San Francisco. "But if Nike or Adidas could wish for a particular team, it's also pretty important to have him go to a team with a good upside that has a supporting cast that is good enough to turn things around and make the postseason."

"The market he winds up in won't make much of a difference in terms of selling shoes," said John Eckel, global director of Hill & Knowlton's sports marketing practice. "We've already seen he's the kind of talent that the media will cover whether he's playing in Cleveland or Timbuktu and his highlights figure to be among the best so they will run over and over again."

Tom Batzold of the Rockchester Democrat and Chronicle reports: Syracuse freshman forward Carmelo Anthony is going pro.

Anthony, who is expected to be chosen second or third in this June's NBA draft, set the freshman records for scoring and rebounding in a season, and became just the third freshman to be named Most Outstanding Player of the Final Four.

"I'm here in front of you today to announce that I will not be coming back next year. I will be moving on, moving on to the pros.

"It was a tough decision for me to make," said Anthony, who began crying as he spoke. "I really don't want to leave, to be honest. My teammates, I'm going to miss them so much, but moving on is an opportunity to take care of my family. It's something I always wanted to do, and now I've got the opportunity to do that."

"I've got to move on," said Anthony, who will turn 19 in May. "We won the national championship, I brought Coach Boeheim what he was waiting for for 27 years. I don't want to make it sound bad, but there's really nothing more that I could get out of college. And I'm going to get my degree -- you can quote me on that."

His coach, Jim Boeheim, agreed that Anthony was ready to take his talents to the next level.

"This is a very happy day for Syracuse basketball, and a sad one, too," Boeheim said.

"The guy sitting here has done more for Syracuse basketball than any player we've ever recruited or that's ever played here. To lead his team to a national championship as a freshman is truly a historic moment in college basketball. I'm very thankful that he was here with us."

"In my mind, this is the right decision for Carmelo, as much as we would like to have him here," Boeheim said. "He's ready to play at the next level. College is to prepare you for what you're going to do in your life, and if it takes one year, then so be it."

The Associated Press reports that High School star LeBron James will address the media on Friday to discuss his plans for the future.

James is expected to announce his intentions to make the jump from high school to the pros.

While James has left the door open for college, he has not been actively recruited by any college program. In the event that James went against expectations and decided to attend college, James would have to sit out his freshman year because he has played in three all-star games. The NCAA states that if an amateur player plays in more than two all-star games the player is ruled ineligible for a season.

A declaration to enter the draft would open the door for James to sign a shoe deal which is expected to be worth at least $20 million dollars.

Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle and Norm Frauenheim of the Arizona Republic report: It was a close race but somebody had to win it. Later today, Phoenix Suns forward Amare Stoudemire will be announced as the winner of the NBA?s Rookie of the Year award.

Sources within the Suns' front office confirmed that Stoudemire had won the award in voting by the media.

Yao Ming figured out that Stoudemire had won when the presentation was announced and he wasn?t invited.

Being a good sport, he passed along his congratulations to Stoudemire.

"Congratulations to Amare," Yao said. "This is just the start of many years (of competition between them) to come."

Stoudemire averaged 13.5 points, 8.8 rebounds, 1.1 blocked shots, one assist per game and shot 47.2 and 66.1 percent from the field and from the free-throw line respectively.

 Stoudemire is the 51st player to win the award and the third to win it with the Suns. Alvan Adams won it in 1976. Walter Davis won it in 1978.

The 20-year-old forward is the only winner of the award to come straight from high school.

As for his reaction, he is more concerned Phoenix?s first round series with the San Antonio Spurs.

 "It's just kind of unbelievable to be getting ready for the playoffs when just a year ago I was getting ready to go to the prom," said Stoudemire.

The Denver Nuggets and Cleveland Cavaliers will go head-to-head Monday to see who will receive the higher pick should they both be unlucky enough to fail to secure a top 3 pick according to Chris Tomasson of the Rocky Mountain News.

NBA spokesman Tim Frank announced that Stu Jackson will draw ping pong balls from a half basket to determine the tie breaker. At this time, other ties between teams in the standings will be broken.

Both teams, though, will have the same chance of landing the top pick- 22.5%.

Should both fail to stay in the top 3, the worst either could pick would be fifth.