Moments after Monday's national championship game, Russ Smith Sr. said that his son, Louisville guard Russ Smith Jr., will leave school early to enter the NBA Draft.

The junior guard led the national champions in scoring this season.

"I told him, 'Man, this is how you go out,'" Smith Sr. said. "All the people who doubted you since high school, you proved them wrong. You have back-to-back (Big East) championships, then you come back and win the national championship. All that hard work comes from working you out since you was three years old, running the beach, running the stairs, running with medicine balls, a boxing bag, it paid off."

Smith shot just 3-for-16 in Louisville's title win over Michigan, but he's still going out on a high note.

"When you go out, you want to go out with a national championship," Smith Sr. said. "He's got five rings: back-to-back Big East, back-to-back Final Four, national championship. What other way to go out?"