Bama's Grizzard passes up senior year for NBA draft

TUSCALOOSA, ALABAMA - Alabama&#39;s 6-foot-8 junior guard Rod Grizzard announced Monday he will forego his senior season to enter the NBA draft. <br> <br> Grizzard said he has not hired an agent but does not plan to change his decision to enter the draft. He averaged 14.9 points over his three-year career and leaves Alabama as the Tide&#39;s 13th all-time career scorer. <br> <br> After Alabama&#39;s loss last month to Kent State in the second round of the NCAA Tournament, Grizzard indicated he still had unfinished business at Alabama. But he told a news conference in Tuscaloosa Monday that he changed his mind in recent weeks watching the NBA. <br> <br> ``I feel that I can help some of those teams. It&#39;s hard to want something so bad and not to go ahead and do it,&#39;&#39; said Grizzard, who played high school basketball in Birmingham. <br> <br> Grizzard said he believes he is projected to be drafted late in the first round in the NBA draft. <br> <br> ``If I get out and work, that should improve,&#39;&#39; Grizzard said. <br> <br> Alabama coach Mark Gottfried said Grizzard was a major force on a Crimson Tide team that has won 52 games in two years. This year&#39;s team went 27-8 and won its first Southeastern Conference regular season title in 15 years. <br> <br> ``I&#39;m just thankful he made the choice to come to Alabama three years ago to try to build our program back,&#39;&#39; Gottfried said. ``I will do everything I can to help him. I&#39;m excited for him. He needs to pursue his dream.&#39;&#39; <br> <br> Gottfried said he and assistant coach T.R. Dunn, a former NBA player, talked to people in the NBA to advise Grizzard about his chances in the draft, but did not try to talk him into staying at Alabama. <br> <br> ``I&#39;d love for him to stay, but I want him to be happy,&#39;&#39; Gottfried said. <br> <br> Grizzard was sometimes criticized by Alabama fans and the media for not being a consistent force in every game, but he said that did not play a factor in his decision to leave. <br> <br> ``That doesn&#39;t hinder me. People talk and want me to score 40 or 50 points a game. No one on the team has ever addressed those issues,&#39;&#39; Grizzard said. <br> <br> After the Kent State loss, Gottfried had said he expected Grizzard and forward Erwin Dudley, the SEC player of the year, to return for their senior seasons. Dudley has indicated he plans to return to Alabama next season. <br> <br> Gottfried said it will be tough to find someone to fill Grizzard&#39;s shoes. <br> <br> ``He was such a key guy for us, &#39;&#39; Gottfried said. ``He gave the opposing team a handful to figure out how to guard him. There are minutes to be had for someone.&#39;&#39; <br> <br> He said Grizzard will also be hard to replace off the court. <br> <br> ``He&#39;s been an absolute gentleman. He was the last guy to leave the building signing autographs after a game,&#39;&#39; Gottfried said.