Talor Battle Submits Name For NBA Draft

Now that you're scared, a little context from the Kremlin:

All-Big Ten point-guard Talor Battle (Albany, N.Y.) will submit his name for the 2010 NBA Draft. Wednesday was the first day players could do so and underclassmen have until April 25th to declare for the NBA Draft. Battle will gauge his NBA Draft status but will not hire an agent, meaning he could return for his senior season. Under new NCAA rules, Battle will have until May 8th to make a final decision to keep his name in the draft or return for his senior season.

"I'm looking forward to going and working out with some teams around the country and competing against the top players in the country and see where I stand," Battle said. "I'll do that, get an evaluation of where I'm at and then go from there."

This doesn't mean he's leaving, of course.  He's not hiring an agent, nor has he said that he's definitely going to be in the draft.  Just testing the professional waters, for now.  Plenty of players go through this process every year, with many of them withdrawing their names prior to the deadline and returning to school:

All players who wish to be drafted, and are not automatically eligible, must declare their eligibility no later than 60 days before the draft. After this date, prospective draftees may attend NBA pre-draft camps and individual team workouts to show off their skills and obtain feedback regarding their draft positions. A player may withdraw his name from consideration from the draft at any time before the final declaration date, which is 10 days before the draft.

A player who declares for the draft will lose his college eligibility, even if he is not drafted, if any of the following is true:

- The player signs with an agent.

- The player has declared for and withdrawn from a previous draft. Although the NBA collective bargaining agreement allows a player to withdraw twice, the NCAA only allows one withdrawal.

In reality, it's hard to believe that Battle is NBA-ready from a physical standpoint, or that he's planning to leave before his brother gets on campus next year -- unless Taran Buie isn't actually planning to enroll at PSU, which would effectively (and mercifully?) pull the plug on the Ed DeChellis era.  More likely than not, this is a way to get his name out there for next year's draft.

We'll find out the answer in early May.