At a 7:30 press conference held Tuesday evening at the Bielfeldt Athletic Administration Building, Deron Williams made official what had been assumed for months. The junior point guard hired an agent and will forego his senior year and enter the 2005 NBA Draft.

After a season in which Williams led the Illini to the NCAA Championship game and was voted a consensus Second-Team All-American, it was expected that he would strike while his stock was hot and declare. Williams had been talking with head coach Bruce Weber, his mother Denise Smith and close family friends about his decision.

After Weber heard back from the NBA Advisory Board that Williams had a definite chance to be picked in the lottery and a very strong chance to be a top-10 pick, the insiders decided the chance was too good to pass up.

“Playing in the NBA has been a lifelong dream of mine,” Williams said. “I’ve looked hard at the situation and it’s time to pursue my dream.”

NBA scouts have raved about Williams’ ability to control a game from the point guard position. His knowledge of the game makes him one of the smartest players in the country, but it’s his intangibles that Weber thinks make him the most appealing.

“His heart is what makes him special,” Weber said. “His will to win is unbelievable and obviously what he did at the end of the year helped to push him higher on the draft board.”

Williams later said he is excited to get the chance to compete in the NBA and is relieved to break the news of his departure.

Illinois fans have been chatting back and forth as to whether they would ever see Williams put on his Illinois number 5 jersey again, but had come to the grips with the fact that he was more then likely gone. While early departures generally anger the university public, Williams’ departure is a sign of pride.

Even with Illinois’ winning tradition, the basketball team has only had 10 players selected in the first round and hasn’t had a lottery pick this decade. Williams will be remembered for his leadership on the court and clutch plays instead of bolting early.

“I’ve pretty much known for a while,” Williams said. “This year I climbed up the draft board a lot.”

Williams’ team also has known that he would be leaving.

“They have known all year, I’ve never hid it from them,” Williams said.

The player and person that Williams is becomes even more apparent after finding out that he had played as unselfishly throughout the year while knowing scoring a few more points per game could make him a couple more million down the road. His unselfishness carried from the court to the press conference as he made sure to let everyone know that he appreciates the experience he has had at Illinois.

Williams thanked practically everyone he has been associated with in the Illinois community for helping him get to where he is today. He thanked his coaches, current and past. He thanked his teammates and the basketball staff. But most of all he thanked his fans.

“The Orange Krush and the Illinois fans are the best in the nation,” Williams said.

Williams intends on finishing the year in school; although he will fall short of graduating he wants to finish the semester he has started. Following the school year, Williams will head down to his native Texas to train in Houston. He has not yet made his mind up on whether he will attend the pre-draft camps. Williams also intends on losing 10 pounds to help improve his speed and quickness.

When Williams stood up after the press conference he smiled in relief, before tripping over his chair. After seeing the mishap, coach Weber joked that “Deron’s hurt, we have to take his name out of the draft” with a chuckle. While Weber was only joking, the mixed emotions are apparent.

“You can’t replace a guard like Deron,” Weber said. “I’ve never coached a point guard of his caliber.”

With Williams having already left, the attention turns to his backcourt mate Dee Brown. The early buzz on Brown is that he would be somewhere in the second round, and without a guaranteed contract would be coming back. Brown has been in contact with Weber and the two will continue to weigh the Chicago native’s draft status.