College basketball roundup: Miami's Larkin to enter NBA draft
Miami sophomore guard Shane Larkin will declare for the NBA draft.
His father, baseball Hall of Famer Barry Larkin, now an ESPN analyst, said Friday that he will announce his intentions to declare for the draft. A new conference at the university is scheduled for Sunday.
The deadline for underclassmen to declare for the draft is Sunday. New NCAA rules indicate that once a player announces he is declaring for the draft, he cannot return to the school.
Larkin was a second-team Associated Press All-American.
--- Connecticut point guard Shabazz Napier told coaches he plans to return for his senior season rather than enter the NBA draft.
---UNLV plans to construct a statue of former coach Jerry Tarkanian.
The Las Vegas Sun reported Friday that university officials are expected to make a formal announcement next Wednesday.
The Sun, according to sources, reported that the statue will be on the concourse outside of the Mack, Cox Pavilion and Mendenhall Center.
---Louisville coach Rick Pitino delivered on his promise to get a tattoo after winning the NCAA Tournament championship earlier this month.
Louisville senior sports information director Kenny Klein posted photos of Pitino's new ink on Twitter on Friday. The tattoo, on the left side of Pitino's upper back, features the Louisville logo in red and the words "2013 NCAA Champions 35-5."
---North Carolina-Asheville assistant coach Nick McDevitt was named the team's head coach, the school announced.
McDevitt took over as interim head coach after Eddie Biedenbach stepped down to join Buzz Peterson's staff at UNC Wilmington.
---South Carolina announced that four players had their rrequests to be released from their scholarships granted. Guards Damien Leonard, Brian Richardson and Eric Smith, and forward RJ Slawson all asked for their releases and received them according to head coach Frank Martin.
Smith saw the most playing time of the four, starting 27 of the Gamecocks' 32 games.
