Chicago Colleges Report

NIU's Silas withdraws from NBA draft

April, 22, 2010

4/22/10

2:37

PM CT

By Scott Powers | ESPNChicago.com

Northern Illinois junior guard Xavier Silas has pulled his name out of the NBA draft and will return to the Huskies for his senior season.

"We talked to a couple friends who are affiliated with the league, and they said if I went back and had a good year in all aspects of the game, I could be a first-rounder," Silas said on Thursday. "That's better than chancing it this year."

Silas had until May 8 to make his decision, but he chose to withdraw early because he could only begin talking to NBA teams on April 29 and his school finals were approaching.

"I'm just going to focus on next year," he said. "It helps knowing now what I have to work on and knowing what I need to do.

"I know winning at the same time has a lot to do with it. If I can't help Northern Illinois win, how am I going to help the Knicks win or the Lakers win?"

Read the entire story.

Scott Powers | email

Reporter

Scott Powers is a general reporter for ESPNChicago.com. He is an award-winning journalist and has been reporting on preps, colleges and pros for publications throughout the Midwest since 1997.

Tags:

Northern Illinois Huskies, Northern Illinois, Xavier Silas

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Scott Powers

Powers is an award-winning journalist and has been reporting on preps, colleges and pros for publications throughout the Midwest since 1997. He joined ESPNChicago in May 2009 and lives in Chicago.

Adam Rittenberg

Rittenberg joined ESPN.com in 2008 after four years at the Daily Herald, where he covered sports at Notre Dame, Northwestern, DePaul and several other colleges. He lives in Chicago and writes for the Big Ten blog.

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Bennett joined ESPN.com in August 2008 after nine years at The Courier-Journal in Louisville, Ky., where he covered college sports and the University of Louisville beat. He lives in Louisville and writes for the Big Ten blog.

Matt Fortuna

Fortuna joined ESPN.com in 2011 after working for MLB.com and the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, where he covered college sports. He grew up in New York and is a Penn State graduate. Fortuna's Notre Dame blog is here.

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