PHILADELPHIA (4/30/04) - Saint Joseph's University junior guard Delonte West declared his eligibility for the 2004 NBA Draft, making the announcement at a press conference in Alumni Memorial Fieldhouse. West stated that he will not hire an agent, thus keeping the option of returning to Saint Joseph's for his senior season in 2004-05.

West filed the paperwork with the NBA office earlier this week and will now await an invitation to the league's pre-draft camp in Chicago, which runs from June 8 to 11. The junior will have until June 17 to withdraw his name from the NBA Draft and retain his final season of eligibility. This year's NBA Draft will be held in New York on June 24.

"After sitting down and talking with my coaching staff and my family, the best decision for me is to declare for the NBA Draft. I'm going to follow the procedure to make an informed decision and right now we're just waiting to hear if I get invited to Chicago," said West. "I'm not going to say that I have to be a lottery pick in order to leave, but I just want to make an informed decision. I'll wait until I have all of the information in front of me and then we'll go from there."

"We have processed all of the information we have gathered at this point and all of us at Saint Joseph's University in the men's basketball program have supported Delonte and this decision. We want him to have as much information as we can glean from the NBA so that he can make an informed decision and the very best one for Delonte," said Hawks' head coach Phil Martelli. "Delonte will be given the information and he will have all of our resources as he goes forward in terms of preparing, hopefully, to get a chance to perform in front of NBA personnel at the pre-draft camp in June."

West teamed up with Consensus National Player of the Year Jameer Nelson to give the 30-2 Hawks the best backcourt in the nation. He averaged 18.9 points, 5.4 rebounds and 4.7 assists, while shooting 51 percent from the field and 89.2 percent from the foul line. An All-Atlantic 10 First Team selection, West was an Honorable Mention All-America by Associated Press and earned All-America First Team honors from Basketball Times. He has 1,235 points in his career, ranking him 25th on the Hawks' all-time scoring list.

The junior from Greenbelt, Md., is following a similar process undergone by Nelson last year. Nelson attended the pre-draft camp and opted to return to Saint Joseph's, setting the stage for the Hawks' magical run to a perfect regular season, and a berth in the NCAA Elite 8