MIKE CHIEN/Daily Bruin Jason Kapono takes a
shot against Cal last season. He will return to UCLA for his senior
season.
By Greg Schain
Daily Bruin Reporter
[email protected]
Jason Kapono finally made it official on Friday.
After months of speculation, the junior announced that he will
return to UCLA for his senior season rather than declare for the
NBA draft.
“Hopefully the NBA will be in my future plans,”
Kapono said in a press release. “But for right now, I’m
at UCLA and UCLA is where I want to be.”
This is the third consecutive year that Kapono has thought about
declaring for the NBA draft.
After his freshman season, he worked out for NBA teams, but
didn’t hire an agent in order to keep his collegiate
eligibility.
Each of the past two off-seasons, he has considered leaving for
the NBA but has opted to stay at UCLA.
“Obviously we are delighted that Jason has decided to
remain at the school, continue toward his degree, and play for us
as a senior,” UCLA head coach Steve Lavin said in a
statement.
Kapono tied the school record last season for games played (33),
games started (33), and three pointers in a single game (7, at
Arizona). He also broke his own record for three pointers in a
season by hitting 87, breaking the old mark of 84 that he set as a
sophomore.
“Jason is a prolific scorer and one of the great shooters
in college basketball,” Lavin said.
Kapono delayed making an announcement for a variety of reasons,
including the recent death of his grandfather.
“I never wanted this to be a big deal,” Kapono said.
“I guess with all the other things going on in my life, the
weeks since the season ended have just flown by.”
NBA scouts and analysts have prognosticated that Kapono likely
would not have been a lottery pick, and possibly would not have
been selected until the second round.
By staying at UCLA one more year, he hopes to improve his draft
status.
With scoring threats Matt Barnes, Dan Gadzuric and Billy Knight
graduating, Kapono will be one of the Bruins’ only
experienced scorers in the 2002-03 season.
He has led the Bruins in scoring the past three seasons,
including averaging 16.0 points per game in 2001-02.