Purdue’s Johnson and Moore Will Return to West Lafayette

After much debate and tough decision making, juniors JaJuan Johnson and E’Twaun Moore have withdrawn their names from the 2010 NBA Draft. For Moore this is no surprise. We all saw this coming. He was just testing the waters and looking for an evaluation of his game. However for Johnson, this is a bit of a shock.

For the past month he has been contemplating whether to dart to the draft in hopes of playing with the best and a huge financial gain.

Johnson said Thursday that he would keep his name in the NBA draft. He then went on to say “I will get drafted so I’m not worried.” He sounded very positive and excited, of course hoping for the best on June 24th. JaJuan has worked out for many teams including Boston, Chicago and Houston. Obviously something, or someone changed his mind.

Although he lacks meat on his bones, Johnson from Franklin Central High School in Indianapolis is a tremendous force inside for the opponent. He averaged 15.5 points per game his junior year, along with 7 rebounds and 2.1 blocks. He caused havoc in the paint for the opposing team and was able to hit a mid-range jumper. Johnson is very athletic and runs the floor well.

As for E’Twaun Moore from East Chicago Central, he used the last month to talk with the experts about where he may go and what he needs to work on to make it to the next level. Moore worked out for a few teams but isn’t quite ready for the next level. Although he is a very talented player, Moore will greatly benefit from another year in college. He averaged 16.4ppg, 3.8rpb, 2.7apg and shot 45% from the field.

This is tremendous for Matt Painter’s basketball team. They may have been a final four team this past year if it were not for the ACL injury to junior Robbie Hummel. Going into next season this team will probably be ranked in the top ten and have a chance to crack the top five. Unlike Butler with Hayward’s departure, Purdue will keep their two most important pieces to the puzzle.

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North Central graduate Adnan Hodzic has withdrawn his name from the NBA draft. Hodzic, a 6-8 forward is the reigning Atlantic Sun Conference Player of the Year and nation’s second-leading scorer last season will return to Lipscomb University for his senior season. Hodzic played high-school basketball with Eric Gordon at North Central High School in Indianapolis.