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Diogu says he'll stick around

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Sophomore forward Ike Diogu blocks out a defender in an exhibition earlier this year. The 6-foot-8 Diogu will return to ASU for his junior season and not enter the NBA Draft.

Sophomore forward Ike Diogu announced Thursday night that he will not enter the NBA draft and will return to ASU for his junior season.

The All-Pac-10 Diogu averaged a league-leading 22.8 points and 36.9 minutes per game and made the conference team for the second year in a row.

"I am continuing my education and basketball career at Arizona State," Diogu said in a prepared statement. "I never really thought about leaving. I took a few days to make sure my family understood and agreed with the decision."

Diogu is expected to be the cornerstone of next year's team along with soon-to-be seniors Jason Braxton and Steve Moore and sophomore point guard Kevin Kruger, an honorable mention on the Pac-10 all-freshmen team this year.

"We know we return one of the best players in the country and that with a more experienced team around him we look forward to next year," ASU head coach Rob Evans said in the same statement. "When we signed Ike, we told people that he was special, and he continues to impress."

This season, Diogu set the Pac-10 record for free throws made in a season with 243, surpassing Oregon State's Mel Counts' mark of 237 set in 1963-64 and was recently named a third-team All-American by ESPN.com.

Last season, Diogu was named the conference's freshman of the year, averaging 19 points and 7.8 rebounds a game and was a consensus preseason All-American entering this season.

In all 59 games of his short career, Diogu has scored in double digits, the best active streak in the nation, and led the Sun Devils in scoring in all but two of their final 14 games.

Reach the reporter at jeffrey.hoodzow@asu.edu


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