LEXINGTON, Ky. — John Wall and DeMarcus Cousins delivered on their promise to help coach John Calipari return Kentucky to national prominence.
Next stop, the NBA.
The freshman All-Americans were among five Kentucky players who declared for the NBA draft on Wednesday, an exodus that includes freshman guard Eric Bledsoe, freshman center Daniel Orton and junior forward Patrick Patterson.
Wall and Cousins are expected to be among the first few players selected after leading the Wildcats to a remarkable turnaround season in Calipari’s first year on the job.
Wall is a good bet to be the first pick in the draft.
• Ohio State’s Evan Turner is skipping his senior season to make himself available for the NBA draft.
The 6-foot-7 point guard is expected to be a top-three pick in the June 24 draft after receiving almost every national player of the year honor.
• Kansas freshman Xavier Henry, one of the most highly sought prospects in the country last year, is headed for the NBA draft.
• Cincinnati freshman Lance Stephenson, the Big East’s rookie of the year, is going to hire an agent and enter the NBA draft.
• Wake Forest fired men’s basketball coach Dino Gaudio after three seasons.
Navratilova has breast cancer
NEW YORK — Tennis great Martina Navratilova has been diagnosed with a noninvasive form of breast cancer, and her prognosis is considered excellent.
Navratilova said that a routine mammogram in January found a lump, and a biopsy the following month determined it was ductal carcinoma in situ, or DCIS. The nine-time Wimbledon women’s singles champion had a lumpectomy in March and will start six weeks of radiation therapy next month.
Footnotes.
St. Louis Blues forward Keith Tkachuk, 38, is retiring after the season and will play his final home game Friday night.
• Authorities in Georgia have finished their investigation into a 20-year-old college student’s claim that Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger sexually assaulted her at a nightclub and have handed the investigation report to the local district attorney.
• Bayern Munich advanced over host Manchester United on aggregate despite a 3-2 Champions League loss. It will play Lyon, which lost 1-0 at Bordeaux in an all-French quarterfinal but advanced on 3-2 aggregate to reach its first semifinal.
• Royals right-hander Gil Meche (shoulder bursitis) will likely come off the disabled list and make his first start of the season Sunday against the Boston Red Sox.
• A judge cleared the way for former Broncos draft pick Maurice Clarett to move to a smaller detention facility in Columbus, Ohio, which could lead to his release within a few months.
• Television ratings were up big for the women’s NCAA final, as UConn’s 53-47 win Tuesday night on ESPN earned a 2.7 rating, a 29 percent increase from last year’s 2.1 for UConn’s rout of Louisville.
• An official investigation into the death of Nodar Kumaritashvili at the Vancouver Olympics will find no single cause for his fatal luge accident.
The Associated Press
