HARTFORD, Conn. — Connecticut's Hasheem Thabeet will give up his final year of college eligibility and enter the NBA draft.
The 7-foot-3 center from Tanzania said Tuesday that he made the decision after speaking to family, friends and coach Jim Calhoun.
"I have had a great experience at Connecticut and cannot thank my coaches and teammates enough," Thabeet said in a statement released by the school. "I look forward to the challenge of playing professionally and know that my time here at UConn has prepared me to be successful in the future."
Calhoun called Thabeet "one of the most dominant defensive players in the history of college basketball," and said he believes he is ready to make the move to the NBA.
"He is a special player and even more special as a person," Calhoun said. "He will truly be remembered as one of the great players in UConn history, not only for his accomplishments, but also because of the type of person he is."
Thabeet, the Big East co-Player of the Year with Pittsburgh's DeJuan Blair, averaged 13.6 points, 10.8 rebounds and 4.2 blocked shots per game in helping the Huskies to a 31-5 record and a Final Four berth.
He becomes the 11th player from Connecticut to declare early for the NBA draft. Nine of the others were picked in the first round, and eight of those were lottery selections.
Thabeet had been playing organized basketball for less than five years when he came to Connecticut from Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, by way of the Cypress Christian School in Houston.
He considered turning pro after both his freshmen and sophomore seasons.
The school said Thabeet plans to hire an agent, a move that would eliminate the possibility that he could withdraw his name before June 15 and retain his collegiate eligibility.
CELTICS' ALLEN SUSPENDED: The NBA has suspended Boston guard Ray Allen one game without pay for elbowing Cleveland's Anderson Varejao in the groin.
The players got tangled under the basket after a free throw with 5:05 remaining in the third quarter of the Cavaliers' 107-76 victory on Sunday. Varejao flung Boston's guard to the floor, and Allen responded with his elbow. Allen will be docked more than $167,000 in salary.
Celtics coach Doc Rivers said he was surprised Allen was suspended, but thought the target of the elbow played a role in the punishment.
"The bottom line to me is the foul before the incident," Rivers said. "If they'd call a foul, the incident may have never happened. I didn't know you could swing a guy around and sling him to the floor and that wasn't a foul."
Allen sat out the Celtics' game in Philadelphia on Tuesday night, a meaningless game for Boston. Kevin Garnett also missed the game to rest his strained knee.
WIZ TO HIRE SAUNDERS:Flip Saunders has agreed to become the new coach of the Washington Wizards, with an announcement expected next week, according to an NBA executive.
Owner Abe Pollin has approved the hiring of Saunders, the choice of president of basketball operations Ernie Grunfeld to succeed interim coach Ed Tapscott, the executive told The Associated Press. The executive spoke on condition of anonymity because the season has not ended and the Wizards are not yet prepared to make a formal announcement.
The announcement isn't expected until next week because the Wizards' season ends today, and Grunfeld will be out of town for the NBA Board of Governors meetings Thursday and Friday.
Saunders will be taking over the worst team in the Eastern Conference. The Wizards are 19-62 after Monday night's home loss to Toronto and need to win their final game at Boston to avoid matching the franchise mark for worst record over an 82-game season.
Saunders has coached for 13 NBA seasons, 10 with Minnesota and three with Detroit, with a career record of 587-396. Eleven of those teams made the playoffs, and he led the Pistons to three consecutive trips to the Eastern Conference finals from 2006 to 2008.
The failure to reach the NBA finals with Detroit cost Saunders his job. He was fired a year ago with one year remaining on this contract and did not coach this season. He was invited to the Wizards training camp in October as a guest coach, assisting the team during practices and meetings.
Washington began the season with Eddie Jordan, the franchise's most successful coach in decades, but he was fired after a 1-10 start and replaced by front office employee Tapscott, who hadn't been a coach since his stint at American University in the early 1990s. The Wizards continued to struggle, largely because of injuries to three-time All-Star Gilbert Arenas and center Brendan Haywood.
Arenas returned from knee surgery to make his season debut on March 28 but has played in only two games. Haywood came back from a torn wrist ligament on April 1 and has played in six games.
If the Wizards begin next season with their top players healthy — something that hasn't happened since 2006 — Saunders will inherit a talent-rich lineup that includes Antawn Jamison, Caron Butler, Arenas, Haywood and a probable high pick in this year's draft.