Sophomore Dominic James announced Thursday he would enter the NBA draft but will not hire an agent. This allows James to change his mind until June 18, 10 days before the draft, should he decide his draft status is not to his liking.,”

When the men's basketball season opens in November, there is a chance the Golden Eagles will have a new starting point guard.

Sophomore Dominic James announced Thursday he would enter the NBA draft but will not hire an agent. This allows James to change his mind until June 18, 10 days before the draft, should he decide his draft status is not to his liking.

"Coach (Tom Crean) told me that if I want to go early he felt like I should be a first-round draft pick," James said. "And that's what I'm looking toward getting."

James will head to Orlando this month for predraft workouts. If he likes what he hears from scouts, general managers and Crean's NBA contacts, he will keep his name in the hat. If not, Marquette will return its nucleus from a team that went 10-6 in the Big East last season.

"As hard as I worked in the offseason, it didn't really show on the court," James said. "But those are the types of things I'm going to show in those (predraft) workouts. I don't feel like I've got to prove anything. I've just got to show them that I can improve."

In particular, James will need to show scouts an improved jump shot because his shooting percentages dropped dramatically late in the season.

"They try to critique my shot, but that's not the No. 1 thing I do as a player," James said. "I feel like my No. 1 asset as a player is getting to the rack and creating for everybody else."

If James were to leave, the Golden Eagles still would have a formidable backcourt in the form of juniors-to-be Jerel McNeal and Wesley Matthews and sophomores-to-be Maurice Acker and David Cubillan. Scott Christopherson, a 6-foot-3 shooting guard who twice was named all-state in Wisconsin, will add depth off the bench as a freshman.

The 5-foot-8 Acker, who at Ball State was named the Mid-American Conference freshman of the year in 2006, was seldom talked about while sitting last season per NCAA transfer rules. He practiced with the team and defended James much of the time.

"Whether Dominic comes back or not, Maurice is going to play," Crean said. "He needs to communicate better on both ends and he needs to play better on-ball defense. But he's very quick and he's become a very good shooter. He's extended his range out to the three-point line."

At Ball State, Acker averaged 9.2 points and 4.6 assists per game. If James is gone, Acker and Cubillan will compete for the starting point guard opening.

Crean's recruitment of Cubillan and Acker as insurance for James is paying off, but if James drops out of the draft, the team would be stronger with its leading scorer this fall. Despite extended shooting woes down the stretch, James was Marquette's most dominant player last season.

"It's important for him to see where he stands at the next level," Crean said. "You can't evaluate these things with your heart, you've got to evaluate them with your head. And then it becomes a no-brainer."

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