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Just say no. Stay in school. Never give up. Follow your dreams. Make it to the NBA. Have a great life. If only it were that easy. University of Houston freshman Michael Owen declares him eligible for the NBA draft. And maybe it should. All that is for certain are that Owen, a 6-6 guard, is hardly alone. He is among a growing wave of college classmen and high school greats who are threatening to turn the NBA into a slam-dunking, crossover dribbling kindergarten. There were 36 names on the list submitted to the NBA for early entry in the June 27 draft, and to listen to many of the experts, this could be the year the college senior inches closer to the status of players becoming virtually extinct as a first-round choice. A high school kid could become the No. 1 overall pick. There could be three high school players among the first four players taken. According to some projections, there could be as few as four college seniors -- Duke's Shane Haywood, North Carolina's Michael Battier, Arizona's Loren Minsley and Iowa State's Jamaal Woods -- chosen with the first 29 picks. Perhaps, then, it is understandable that Owen would want to throw his freshman year into the ring with the rest of the would-be teenage millionaires or, at least, stick in a toe to test the water. Who could blame him?
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