LEXINGTON, Ky. Willian Brazil . -- Kentucky forward Julius Randle took a lot of time and talked to a lot of people before deciding to leave after one season for the NBA draft, where he is expected to be among the top five selections. With five days left before the deadline for underclassmen to declare, the 6-foot-9 Dallas native announced the decision many expected even before he arrived as part of Kentuckys best recruiting class ever. Projected as a lottery pick from the outset, Randle solidified his draft stock by leading Kentucky (29-11) to the NCAA final behind a string of double-doubles despite being double- and triple-teamed. Randle averaged 15.0 points and 10.4 rebounds and was voted to The Associated Press All-American third team. With Tuesdays announcement, he joins guard James Young, who said last week that he would enter the June 26 draft. "Kentucky will always have a special place in my heart, but growing up as a kid, theres always been my dream to play in the NBA, and theres no better opportunity for me to achieve that goal than now," Randle said at a news conference attended by his mother, Carolyn Kyles, and teammates Alex Poythress and Willie Cauley-Stein, who rode in on a scooter. Decisions remain for three more freshmen -- twin guards Aaron and Andrew Harrison and centre Dakari Johnson -- along with sophomore forward Poythress, who didnt talk about his future Tuesday. But Randles announcement was the most anticipated, even though Kentuckys fan base was resigned to him becoming the latest of the programs "one and done" players. Randles steady low-post play led to positive feedback from league executives about his NBA potential. After spending the past couple of weeks talking with his family, Kentucky coach John Calipari -- who didnt attend the news conference -- teammates and others, Randle made the decision many expected. His next step is hiring an agent. "It wasnt something that we said we were going to do overnight," Kyles said of the decision-making process. "We prayed about it and talked about it for a while and decided this is the best decision for him. ... "It was important to know their feedback, if they thought he was ready to go out there and contribute to a team. The positive feedback, there was enough of it coming from coach Cal that we felt this was the right thing to do." Added Randles mentor, Jeff Webster, "I just wanted to hear him say it, that this is what he wanted to do." Considered the best player of Kentuckys much-heralded eight-man recruiting class featuring six high school All-Americans, the 250-pound Randle was initially described by Calipari as the "alpha beast" of this talented group. The Wildcats overcame a stretch-run slump to reach the NCAA championship game before they lost 60-54 to Connecticut. Randle had 10 points, six rebounds and four assists in the final, but the Huskies defence kept him from being a threat in the paint. The left-handed freshman led the Wildcats in rebounding and scoring and posted a nation-leading 24 double-doubles in spite of opponents work in limiting his options near the basket. Calipari said in a statement that Randle "was Shaqd all year -- in every way," referring to defences applied to former NBA great Shaquille ONeal. "I cannot wait to watch him shine at the next level." Randle scored nearly half of his 599 points from the foul line, as he often had to muscle his way through double teams. He also provided one of Kentuckys season highlights in late February with a game-winning putback in the final seconds of a 77-76 overtime victory over LSU, one of many hard-fought games for a gifted yet inexperienced Wildcats squad that needed all season to come together. Through it all Randle remained a steady force with physical play that reinforced speculation that he would be among the top players chosen in June. "I came here to win a national championship. I came here to mature on and off the court, and I did that," Randle said. "I came (up) one game short of winning a national championship, we did as a team. But everything we went through this year was just an experience Ill never forget. That alone kept me at peace." Ronaldinho Brazil . The Jets are 1-2-1 against Nashville this year despite outscoring the Predators 11-10. Blake Wheeler and Olli Jokinen lead Winnipeg with four points, while Craig Smith has four for the Predators. Willian Brazil Jersey . The 24-year-old piloted the No.06 Sprott Inc. Newman/Haas Racing entry to nine top-ten finishes, including three season-best fourth-place finishes, all on wildly different tracks - at Long Beach (street course), New Hampshire Motor Speedway (short oval) and Kentucky Speedway (1.WINNIPEG -- Marian Gaborik didnt get on the score sheet in his debut with the Los Angeles Kings, but he felt comfortable in a 3-1 victory Thursday over the Winnipeg Jets. Gaborik was acquired in a trade with Columbus on Wednesday and skated on the top line with centre Anze Kopitar and right-winger Justin Williams. "We created some things," said Gaborik, who logged 16:38 of ice time. "We had some good time on the power play as well. "We got some great help by our (defence) offensively as well so I think its going to get better and better." Mike Richards scored the game winner on a Winnipeg giveaway that helped run the Kings (36-22-6) winning streak to six games. "I was just as excited as a lot of the people that were here that came in from (my hometown) of Kenora (Ont.)," Richards said of the 20-plus game tickets he had to find. Captain Dustin Brown had Los Angeles first goal and Alec Martinez added a third-period power-play goal. Goalie Jonathan Quick only needed to make 17 saves for his 20th win of the season. Olli Jokinen notched his 15th goal of the season for Winnipeg (30-27-7) and a busy Ondrej Pavelec stopped 38 shots. "They move the puck well, they can spend a lot of time in your zone," Pavelec said. "We have to forget about this one and focus on the next one." Winnipeg and Phoenix were tied at 67 points heading into the game, one point behind Dallas for the final wild-card spot in the Western Conference. Vancouver was one back of the Jets and Coyotes. Vancouver was visiting Dallas on Thursday night and Phoenix was hosting Montreal. "I liked the speed of the game that we started the game with," Jets head coach Paul Maurice said. "I thought we moved the puck sharp and we moved our feet. And then I thought we ran into the L.A. Kings. "When theyre at their best, they will take your game and frustrate you to the point that you start to change what youre trying to do because theres nothing given easily." The biggest cheer in the scoreless first period was for Jets forward Dustin Byfuglien, after he sent Kings defenceman Jake Muzzin over the boards into the bottom of Winnipegs bench. Kaka Brazil Jersey. Los Angeles outshot the Jets 11-7 in the opening frame. Winnipeg didnt get its first shot of the second period until almost seven minutes in, but the Jets scored on their 11th of the game. Evander Kane went around Kings defenceman Drew Doughty and then beat Muzzin to the puck off the boards behind the net, sending a quick pass to Jokinen who shot the puck past Quick at 12:03. But the jubilation of the MTS Centre only lasted 42 seconds. Brown scored his 12th goal of the season after centre Jarret Stoll sent a long backhand pass across the front of the net that hit Browns skate and the puck trickled across the goal-line past Pavelec at 12:45. Then Jets defenceman Tobias Enstrom, at the boards by the Kings bench, made a pass across the ice that was supposed to be for Jokinen. Richards intercepted it halfway, crossed the blue-line and then fired a shot by Pavelec at 16:15 for his ninth of the season. Los Angeles also outshot the Jets 10-6 in the second. The Kings are now 19-0-0 this season when leading after the second period. With Jets forward Blake Wheeler in the penalty box for high-sticking, defenceman Martinez scored unassisted at 15:51 with a shot on Pavelecs blocker side. The Jets had to juggle all four lines from Tuesdays 3-2 overtime loss to the New York Islanders because of injuries. Winnipeg rookie centre Mark Scheifele sprained the medial collateral ligament in his right knee during the loss. The second-line centre is out for at least four weeks and possibly the rest of the regular season. Forward Chris Thorburn was also injured in the game and is listed day-to-day with an upper-body injury. Those deletions made Maurice put his top line of Andrew Ladd, centre Bryan Little and Wheeler back together. Jokinen was centring the second line with Kane and Byfuglien. Michael Frolik, whos only played a few games at centre during his six-year NHL career, was put in the middle with Matt Halischuk and Devin Setoguchi. The fourth line was centred by Jim Slater with Eric Tangradi and Anthony Peluso. Winnipeg hosts Ottawa on Saturday afternoon and the Kings play in Edmonton Sunday. cheap nfl jerseys ' ' '
