Stanford All-America forward Josh Childress will apply for the NBA draft but will retain the option to return for his senior season, according to multiple sources.

Under NCAA rules, players are allowed to work out for NBA teams and gauge their draft value. As long as they don't hire an agent, they have until June 17 - a week before the draft - to withdraw.

He joined his teammates in Mexico last week for spring break, then met with Coach Mike Montgomery on Tuesday morning.

When asked for an update, Montgomery said: "You'll have to ask Josh."

Indiana University's top-rated incoming basketball recruiting class has carried an asterisk because of speculation Josh Smith might enter June's NBA draft.

And while Smith still hasn't said he is NBA-bound, his actions Monday night spoke loudly.

By participating in the dunk contest at the McDonald's All-American game in Oklahoma City Smith officially lost his freshman year of college eligibility.

According to NCAA rules, "a student-athlete shall be denied the first year of intercollegiate athletics competition, if following completion of high school eligibility, and prior to the student-athlete's high school graduation, he participates in more than two all-star basketball contests."

Participation in this case, according to the NCAA, includes the slam-dunk contest. Smith also competed in all-star events in Chicago and Knoxville, Tenn.

"This was his decision to make," IU coach Mike Davis said. "It's disappointing, but we had guys that we had lined up just in case. We had a backup plan. We're not in the situation where we were a couple of years ago where we were kind of out there stuck.

"But this is his decision and I support the boy."

ST. LOUIS (AP) Replacing a coach who is on track to be a Hall of Famer is never easy. Now try doing it after losing a couple of first-round NBA draft picks.

That was Kansas coach Bill Self's task this season.

Replacing Roy Williams wasn't easy, and Kansas certainly had its share of struggles this year. But the Jayhawks seem to be doing just fine these days, back in the regional semifinals of the NCAA tournament for the fourth straight season.

Fourth-seeded Kansas plays ninth-seeded Alabama-Birmingham on Friday night.

``We had such success the past couple of years under coach Williams and for coach Self to come in and have a totally different mind-set and the way things are supposed to work, it was hard for some of us to buy into it,'' guard Aaron Miles said Thursday. ``I think that was the hardest thing for him, to be able to win us over and believe in his system and everything.

``It's been ups and downs throughout the whole season, but I think right now we're all adjusted and are believing in him.''

Self bristles at the suggestion this has been an up-and-down year. Yes, the Jayhawks got blown out in road losses to Oklahoma State, Nebraska and Texas. They also were routed at Nevada and lost to Richmond at home.

But the Jayhawks are 23-8 and seem to be peaking at the right time with victories in eight of their last 10 games.

``There's been a lot more ups than downs,'' Self said. ``Bottom line is it reaches a point where coaches have to get the guys to do exactly what they want them to do and the players have to go do it. And regardless if you've been in a place for 20 years, there's a time in February where every coach struggles doing that.

``What Kansas went through this year is exactly what 99 percent of college basketball goes through every year,'' he added. ``They just haven't experienced much in the last two.''

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ACHING DUHON:@ Chris Duhon is playing in pain, but don't look for the Duke guard to miss time in the NCAA tournament.

The leader of the Blue Devils played 32 minutes in a second-round victory over Seton Hall _ just a week after bruising his ribs while diving for a loose ball in the Atlantic Coast Conference championship.

``Chris is hurt, but he will not let anyone else know he is hurt because he is the leader of our basketball team and wants to play no matter what,'' sophomore guard Sean Dockery said. ``He is a great leader.''

Duhon took it easy in practice Thursday but intends to play Friday night against Illinois is the Atlanta Regional semifinals.

``Being a senior, I want to lead this team to a championship because they are a great group of guys who have worked very hard and they deserve it,'' he said.

Coach Mike Krzyzewski said Duhon is hurting a lot more than he's letting on.

``Chris is better, but he's not nearly 100 percent,'' the coach said. ``This injury will linger, whether he plays one game or two, three or four. It will probably be another month and a half.''

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COMING TO AMERICA:@ Xavier guard Romain Sato came to the United States in 1999, from his home in the Central African Republic. He was placed in a high school in Dayton, Ohio, through an organization called Friends of Africa.

Now, more than five years later, he's starting to feel comfortable with the American lifestyle.

``It was tough for me the first year and the second year, but each things got easier for me,'' he said. ``My teammates helped me a lot, especially with coach, whatever he tells me, if I don't understand, they would take me and go into the office and show me.

``Now everything is easier for me.''

Sato and the Musketeers play Texas in the Atlanta Regional semifinals on Friday night.

Sato has legal guardians in Dayton, Tom and Tiffany Thompson, who also have helped.

``I think I'm getting to be very American now,'' he said. ``I have been with them for five years, so they help me. I will never forget where I come from. I would say it's different.''

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HOYA FAMILY?@ Former Georgetown coach John Thompson was noncommittal Thursday when asked if he had discussed the Hoyas' vacant coaching position with his son John Thompson III, the coach at Princeton.

The elder Thompson, who worked as a radio announcer for Thursday night's games in the East Rutherford Regional, declined to say whether he and his son had talked about the job.

``I've resigned,'' he said jokingly. ``I'm like Chief Joseph _ I will fight no more forever.''

The younger Thompson has led the Tigers to a 68-42 record in four years, including Ivy League titles and NCAA Tournament berths in 2000-2001 and 2003-2004. Princeton finished 20-8 this season, losing to Texas in the first round of the tournament.

Georgetown coach Craig Esherick was fired March 16 after five years in which the Hoyas were 103-74 but reached the NCAA Tournament just once, in 2001.

At least two of Florida's key players will be back for the 2004-2005 season.

Gators coach Billy Donovan said Tuesday that forward David Lee and guard/forward Matt Walsh have decided to remain in Gainesville for their senior and junior seasons, respectively. The status of point guard Anthony Roberson, however, is still undetermined.

"David and Matt Walsh, their minds are made up and they'll be back," Donovan said in his first meeting with the media since the Gators' 75-60 loss to Manhattan in the first round of the NCAA Tournament last Thursday. "But in terms of Roberson, I just feel like right now ... I don't think he's made a decision one way or the other."

Donovan did say that Roberson has "given me every indication that he wants to be back here," but the All-SEC first-team selection has not given Donovan a definitive answer. Donovan said he would help Roberson research his possible NBA Draft position, and would support whatever decision he made.

"If Anthony Roberson is making a decision in terms of what's best for him, if he does decide to do that [leave early], I will be behind him 100 percent," Donovan said.

"My job as a coach and mentor is to try to be there for him."

For the Howard family of Atlanta, this is destiny, an inevitability since the day Dwight Howard was born less than seven months into his mother's pregnancy.

"He was a premature baby, but he was 21 inches long," Dwight Howard Sr. said Tuesday at the Moody Bible Institute, where dozens of N.B.A. executives and scouts gathered to watch his son and 20 other high school players perform. "He's always been big, and from that Sunday morning that he was born, we always said, `Oh, this boy's going to be an N.B.A. player.' "

As a youngster, Howard latched onto his parents' vision, and his version of it did not include going to college ? well before Kevin Garnett started the modern-day exodus of high school players going to the N.B.A. in 1995.

"I always wanted to go to the N.B.A. out of high school," said Howard, a 6-foot-11 18-year-old who received this season's Naismith Award as the nation's top high school player. "I wanted to be the first person to do it, so I made up my mind that I was going to sacrifice time, girls, money and all of that stuff just to play basketball. I really never wanted to go to college, to tell you the truth."

OAKVILLE, Ontario (AP) If NBA teams picked players on confidence alone, Ivan Chiriaev would be a guaranteed lottery pick.

The 7-foot-1 high school star said Monday he will enter the 2004 NBA draft, skipping his college eligibility. And failure is not an option.

``The NBA wants and needs Ivan Chiriaev,'' the 19-year-old said at a news conference held in his school's library. ``I have a great opportunity right now and everybody from scouts to GMs to presidents of the clubs are saying I will go top five. And worst case, it will be a lottery pick.''

Chiriaev moved to Canada 16 months ago from Russia, to live with an uncle and pursue his basketball future. He has learned to speak English and put 70 pounds on what was a skin-and-bones 180-pound frame.

Over the past few months NBA and college scouts trekked to the gym for a glimpse at what they hope will be the next big international star.

``I was able to go from nowhere in Russia to this day and this press conference with hard work,'' said Chiriaev, who hopes to move his family from Russia if he is drafted. ``This hard work will help me go from today and this press conference to the next level, NBA all-star.''

Chiriaev will play for the 10-member World Select team against a top 10 prospects team from the United States in a high school all-star game April 4 in San Antonio during the Final Four.

Dwight Howard, who led Southwest Atlanta Christian Academy to the Class A basketball championship, has been named Naismith Male Prep Player of the Year by the Atlanta Tipoff Club.

Howard, a 6-foot-11 senior who is expected to bypass college and enter the NBA draft, averaged 25.5 points, 18.3 rebounds, eight blocks and 3.5 assists.

Previous male winners include Dennis Scott, Alonzo Mourning, Chris Webber, Jason Kidd, Kobe Bryant and LeBron James.

LOS ANGELES (AP) Ha Seung-jin sprints and shoots and muscles his way to the basket - all under the watchful eye of former Chicago Bulls center Will Perdue.

And his father, of course.

The 18-year-old from Seoul - a 7-foot-4, 325-pounder - is at the gym daily, working on his jumper, free throws and rebounding with one goal in mind: to become the first Korean to play in the NBA.

``Before I started working with him, they said 7-4, 325 and you think he's just a big guy who kind of lumbers along, doesn't have good footwork or any agility,'' Perdue said. ``For a big man, he's impressively agile, and it's even more impressive considering his size.''

Ha and his 6-foot-6 father, Ha Dong-ki _ a former starting center for the South Korean national team _ have been in Los Angeles since December, working on the teenager's court skills on the campus of UCLA.

``I need more power and more conditioning,'' Ha said, speaking through an interpreter. ``I need to get stronger so I can deal with the physical type of NBA play day in and day out. I'm working hard.''

He's no Yao Ming _ at least not yet _ but he is expected to draw increasing attention as June's NBA draft nears and may even be a first-round pick if he impresses teams in workouts a couple of months from now.

Ha has already signed with a Los Angeles-based sports agency.

``He's big and he's breathing, so he's a prospect,'' said Ryan Blake, a scout for a service affiliated with the NBA. He laughed and added, ``That's the same thing I said about Yao early on.''

But Ha has far less experience than Yao, the Houston Rockets center from China who was the No. 1 pick in the 2002 draft and already is a two-time NBA All-Star.

Ha just graduated from high school in Seoul, where he led his team to three national championships. Under South Korean rules, he was allowed to play for Yonsei University in a tournament last year as an incoming freshman. He averaged 12.6 points, 8.6 rebounds and 1.6 blocks in seven games and Yonsei won the national college title.

While still in high school, Ha went up against Yao in the Asian Championships, though made a quick exit. He scored only 4 points and four fouls in four minutes in South Korea's 106-96 loss to China in the title game.

``He's a very strong and physical player. That's about all I know. He needs some time,'' Yao said from Houston. ``I never knew of him before that but I knew he played well in the Asian Games and in Europe.''

Despite Ha's limited experience, Perdue sees parallels between the teenager and the 7-foot-6, 229-pound Yao, who was part of the recent surge in foreign players to the NBA.

``There are a lot of similarities in the way they play, their body type, their ability to get the shot off because of their size,'' Perdue said. ``Seung-Jin has good movement in the post, and we're working on his perimeter game.''

During a recent three-on-three scrimmage at UCLA, Ha looked relatively mobile for his size and seemed to have a good _ if inconsistent _ shooting touch.

Guarding former NBA forward Jelani McCoy, Ha stayed tight on the 6-10 McCoy as he dribbled to his right, whirled to his left and shot. Without leaving his feet, Ha tapped the ball away.

A few minutes later, Ha threw up an air ball from 15 feet, then slapped his hands and shook his head in disgust.

``Teams are drafting a lot of potential now because there are more and more young players, high school players, entering the draft,'' Perdue said. ``They may not be the best players right now, but the upside is better.

``I think Seung-jin falls into that class. Will he develop into the player they might expect him to be? I'm biased, but I think he will.''

Ha Dong-ki, whose 6-foot-7 daughter Eunjoo is playing basketball in Japan, believes his son has improved since coming to the United States.

``I see a definite difference,'' Ha Dong-ki said, also speaking through an interpreter. ``I feel like in two more months, he can take it to another level.''

In the meantime, Ha is living life like a typical teenager in many regards: He's hooked on a wrestling video game, and has a couple of pet turtles. He said he hasn't had much difficulty adjusting to living in America, though he speaks little English.

``The biggest thing for me is that I can go to a store where they have clothes for big and tall men,'' Ha said. ``In Korea, I had to have everything special-made and it was very expensive.''

On the streets of Los Angeles, Ha is frequently mistaken for the Rockets' center. ``Are you Yao Ming? Are you Yao Ming's brother?'' he's often asked.

While Ha admires Yao as a player, another center is his hero.

``I'm Shaquille O'Neal's biggest fan,'' Ha said.

And asked when it was obvious he was going to be tall enough to be a center himself, the teenager replied: ``When I was born. I weighed more than 13 pounds.''

Bulls operations chief John Paxson didn't reveal whom he will draft this summer, but he stopped just short of saying whom he won't pick.

Paxson all but stated Friday he won't draft someone directly out of high school, and three of the top four prospects are prep seniors. The Bulls (18-43) own the second-worst record in the league, so Paxson will have plenty of prep talent to consider. If Paxson lands the top pick, Connecticut's Emeka Okafor is a lock.

"There is talent and potential in all of those [prep] kids,'' Paxson said. "But for franchises trying to get better in a hurry, those are risky propositions.''

The Bulls took Tyson Chandler and Eddy Curry, two high schoolers, within the first four picks of the 2001 draft and are still waiting for them to take the lead.

"It's scary,'' Paxson said. "The guys we're counting on are so young -- I can't say never -- but it would be tough to throw somebody [right of high school] in the mix.''