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Russ Smith on the NBA Draft: "...This is the right time”

Michigan v Louisville

ATLANTA, GA - APRIL 08: Russ Smith #2 of the Louisville Cardinals is interviewed in the locker room after Louisville won 82-76 against the Michigan Wolverines during the 2013 NCAA Men’s Final Four Championship at the Georgia Dome on April 8, 2013 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images)

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(CLICK HERE to follow along with who is turning pro and who is returning to school.)

Earlier today, reports surfaced that Louisville’s Russ Smith would enter the NBA Draft.

Well, the All-Big East guard seemingly made it official on Sirius XM’s College Sports Nation radio show, with Mark Packer and Bruce Pearl.

He appeared Tuesday and explained the situation. Smith’s father, Russ Smith, Sr., was quick to pull the trigger on telling everyone his son was leaving, breaking the news right after Louisville won the national championship.

“My dad obviously put it out there [to] say that I’m going to enter the Draft,” Smith said. “We both feel like this is the right time, while coming off the national championship, while the talk about my game is still there. And it’s just the right time. You never know what’s going to happen next year. I’m real lucky to be in the situation I am now so this’ll be the best time and we’ll just see from there. But, as of right now, I gotta get back in the gym, get my weight back. I lost nine pounds, 10 pounds, believe it or not, this season and now I have a lot of time to get that weight to stay on me. So I feel like going into, maybe two months from now I could get maybe 15 pounds back on my body and just develop parts of my game that weren’t there and get healthy again.”

So there it is. Smith is officially going pro. Not sure it’s the best decision, but you can’t blame a guy for wanting to cash in on the splash he made this season. Though one has to wonder how his sub-par performance, at least scoring-wise, in the Final Four will affect his draft stock. He finished with just nine points in the national title game and while he had 21 in the national semifinal against Wichita State, he started the game 1-for-10.

Smith may have to improve his distribution skills if he wants to thrive at the next level. He played some point guard this season, but finished with 116 assists against 108 turnovers. And there are a ton of 6-7 two-guards with his skill set at the next level.

NBA rules state underclassmen have until April 28 to declare for the draft and until June 17 to withdrawal.

Follow David Harten on Twitter at @David_Harten