<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">Illinois junior Deron Williams will announce that he is declaring himself eligible for the NBA draft tonight, a source has told the Post-Dispatch. The university has scheduled a press conference for 7:30 p.m. on campus. This announcement had become a matter of when, not if, for Williams, who led the Big Ten Conference in assists for the past three seasons. The 6-foot-3 guard from The Colony, Texas, saw his NBA stock raise considerably during the NCAA Tournament, averaging 14.6 points and 8.3 assists in six games. He posted 17 points and seven assists in the Illini?s 75-70 loss to North Carolina in the national title game. It is not known if Williams has hired an agent, which would make him ineligible to return to Illinois. Though he would have until June 21st to withdraw from the NBA draft, to be held June 28th in New York, a source said Tuesday that Williams has no plans of returning to the team. One NBA mock draft has Williams going as high as the No. 3 pick in the draft to the New Orleans Hornets.</div> Source
