"The most important thing for him is to get in the league so he can start getting better," said Daye. "If he's in the NBA, he'll have 24 hours to work on his strength as opposed to trying to do school and basketball. It's difficult.

"He'd be more advanced by making the leap than he would be going back to school. People have the other argument. I think it's shown over time that the guys that have gone out early haven't been hurt by it."

"He's letting me be a man and make a sound decision on what I want to do," said Austin. "He has always been a help for me on what I want to do in basketball."