Former Lincoln star to enter NBA draft

[GreenBat]

Former Lincoln star to enter NBA draft

05/10/2003

By CALVIN WATKINS / The Dallas Morning News

Lincoln graduate Chris Bosh announced he's leaving college to enter the NBA Draft. Bosh made the annnouncement at Lincoln High School, surrounded by a dozen friends and family and his college coach, Paul Hewitt of Georgia Tech.

"It was a very difficult decsion," Bosh said. "I enjoyed myself at Georgia Tech. It was really tough because I had teammates there that were depending on me. But this was the best decision for me at this time."

Bosh, a freshman at Georgia Tech, has been projected as a lottery pick. At 6-10, the power forward was the ACC freshman of the year and led the conference in field goal percentage at 55.8 percent.

Bosh's high school coach Leonard Bishop said the announcement at Lincoln is a tribute to the 2002 team that won a Class 4A and mythical national title.

College underclassmen have until Monday to become early entry candidates for the NBA Draft. NCAA rules also allow underclassmen to retain their amateur status if they do not sign with an agent or are not drafted. Bosh said he's not signed with an agent, but a public relations firm has been retained to help with today's news conference.