Trey Thompkins to enter NBA Draft; Travis Leslie to Test Status

Trey Thompkins will forgo his senior season and will enter the 2011 NBA Draft, UGA head coach Mark Fox announced on Tuesday.

Junior Travis Leslie will also enter the draft, but will not hire an agent which preserves his amateur status. The deadline for Leslie to withdraw his name from the draft and preserve his college eligibility is May 8.

From GeorgiaDogs.com:

Thompkins, a 6-10 forward from Lithonia, Ga., earned first-team All-Southeastern Conference honors the past two years.  He has led the Bulldogs in scoring and rebounding each of his those years and will finish his UGA career with 1,396 points and 693 rebounds.  Those figures rank 13th and 10th, respectively, on the school’s career charts.

“I have spoken with my family and coaches about my situation, and I feel that it’s best for me to forgo my senior season and enter the NBA Draft,” Thompkins said.  “I would just like to thank everyone who has supported me in this decision.”

“We certainly appreciate Trey’s contributions to the program and we wish him well in the pursuit of his dreams,” Fox said.

Leslie, a 6-4 guard from Decatur, was a second-team All-SEC pick by the league’s head coaches this past season.  He averaged 14.4 points and 7.2 rebounds in 2011, second on the team behind Thompkins in both categories, and he also handed out 97 assists.  Like Thompkins, he surpassed the 1,000-point mark in 2011 and finished the season with 1,099 points, which ranks 30th on the UGA career scoring chart.

“Travis has exercised his right to ‘test the waters’ as a junior,” Fox said.  “We will help him manage that process in a timely manner.”