Osborne Second Cardinal to Declare for NBA Draft

LOUISVILLE, KY. LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) _ Louisville junior Jason Osborne, academically ineligible to play last season, is making himself available for the professional basketball draft.

Osborne's announcement that he would join sophomore teammate Samaki Walker in the draft came less than nine hours before the midnight deadline for underclassmen to declare for the draft.

``I'm confident I can compete at the professional level and make my family happy,'' Osborne, 21, said at the Mother's Day news conference appropriately attended by his mother.

Osborne, a 6-foot-8, 200-pound guard-forward, averaged 10.6 points and 5.8 rebounds in his two-year playing career for the Cardinals. He averaged 3.6 assists and blocked at least 30 shots each season.

He said he thought his versatility would be attractive to NBA teams.

``I can do a lot of different things with my height,'' Osborne said.

He said he has not signed with an agent, leaving open the possibility that he could return to the Cardinals if he were disappointed with how he fared in the draft. But he dodged a question about whether he would be academically eligible at Louisville in the 1996-97 season.

``I'd prefer not to talk about that right now,'' he said.

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