NBA Big 12 Basketball

Despite suffering a tough knee injury yesterday that may have pushed him out of the first round of the NBA Draft, Kansas State's Bill Walker is deciding to stay in the draft.

Kansas State Wildcats redshirt freshman Bill Walker will remain in the NBA draft despite injuring his right knee at a workout over the weekend, his advisor, Chris Rivers said Monday afternoon.

Rivers, the director of basketball at Reebok, said that an MRI taken Monday didn't reveal a tear of the MCL or the ACL, which was feared when Walker heard a pop prior to working out for 21 teams at the Golden State Warriors' practice facility in Oakland.

This is huge news for Kansas State, which will lose both Walker and Michael Beasley to the NBA and most likely end the latest Golden Era in Manhattan.

With this news, it shows that Walker not only believes that he is a first round pick, but that his knee is also healthy. Many feel that the Detroit Pistons (who pick 29th) may have guaranteed Walker they'd take him there (it is a need they have) and may have pushed Walker's decision to stay.

It's good news in Boston and bad news in Austin as DraftExpress.com is reporting that Texas freshman sensation Kevin Durant has decided to declare for the NBA draft and will make his announcement at a news conference next week.

DraftExpress.com cited "multiple sources, both from the NBA and close to the player himself" in its report.

Durant, the first freshman in college basketball history to be named player of the year, is widely expected to be the second player chosen in this year's NBA draft, after fellow freshman Greg Oden, the Ohio State center. That means the Celtics, who have the NBA's second-worst record and are therefore the most likely recipients of the second pick in the draft lottery, are a likely landing spot.

Durant has already cost NBA executives $60,000 in fines, with half of that going to Boston's Danny Ainge, who sat with Durant's family during the Big 12 tournament. With his brief Texas career, he won't make the kind of lasting impact on the college game that he could have if he had stayed longer, but he might be a harbinger, as the NBA's minimum-age rule turns college basketball into a game that's increasingly dominated by freshmen.