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For the past two weeks, Mario Chalmers has been too busy thinking about the future to spend much time reliving the past.

Sure, he has seen the cover of Sports Illustrated more times than he can count. That's been pretty cool. And he has posed for more photographs with fans than usual, too. No surprise there. But Chalmers hasn't watched the replay of the NCAA championship game yet. He hasn't reveled in the glory of what is already being called the biggest shot in Kansas history, the one that flew off his fingertips with three seconds left and the Jayhawks trailing by three.

"I'm still waiting for the right time," Chalmers said.

Chalmers won't have much time now. He announced on Wednesday afternoon that he will declare for the 2008 NBA draft, joining teammates Brandon Rush and Darrell Arthur in the draft pool. Chalmers, like Arthur, will not hire an agent, giving him the option of returning to Kansas.

Chalmers said that he will stay in the draft if he feels confident that he will be a first-round pick. As of now, he says, he is being projected between Nos. 25 and 35, which puts him firmly on the first-round bubble.

"I'm really looking forward to seeing if I can work myself higher," Chalmers said. "But if I hear anything that's not in the first round, I'm just going to come back."

Notes

• D.J. Augustin is declaring for the NBA draft, and Texas teammate A.J. Abrams is headed with him.

The Longhorns lost their All-American point guard when Augustin announced he would skip his final two seasons at Texas and enter the draft, where he is widely considered a first-round pick.

Abrams, a junior, also declared himself eligible for the draft. The 5-foot-11 guard has also not hired an agent.

• The Memphis Tigers' entire starting lineup last season is eligible for the NBA draft now that juniors Antonio Anderson and Robert Dozier have become the last from the 2008 NCAA runner-up to declare.

• Connecticut women's coach Geno Auriemma said the regular-season series against rival Tennessee was canceled because Vols coach Pat Summitt accused the Huskies of a recruiting violation.
Auriemma, speaking to reporters on campus Tuesday, said Summitt "doesn't have the courage to say it publicly."

• Xavier coach Sean Miller has agreed to a 10-year contract extension.

• Arizona assistant coach Kevin O'Neill has been reassigned to duties within the athletic department. O'Neill, 51, was hired last spring, and took over as interim coach when coach Lute Olson took a personal leave of absence last season. After Olson returned in March, he announced O'Neill would no longer be a part of his staff.

• Derek Kellogg, who played on four Atlantic 10 championship teams at Massachusetts in the 1990s, was formally introduced as his alma mater's head coach.

Former Mississippi Valley State head coach James Green has been named men's basketball head coach at Jacksonville State University.

Green, who becomes Jacksonville State's 10th men's basketball coach, has 11 years of experience as a head coach at the Divison I level. He has spent the last three as head coach at Mississippi Valley State and eight previous years at Southern Miss.

Green led the Delta Devils to the 2006-07 Southwestern Athletic Conference regular season title and the 2007-08 SWAC Tournament championship and made an appearance in the 2008 NCAA Tournament. He was named the league's Coach of the Year in 2006-07 season after guiding the Delta Devils to a 13-5 league mark.

Coach Jim Boylen has hired Taylorsville's Stan Johnson from Cal State Northridge to fill one of the two vacant assistant coaching positions on his men's basketball staff at the University of Utah.
"The biggest thing for me is that he kind of shares my vision of Utah across your chest meaning something," Boylen said. "He wants to be here, he's passionate about being here. He understands our state and he's excited about what we are trying to build. I'm excited about it."
The 29-year-old Johnson grew up cheering for the Utes, and graduated from Taylorsville High School in 1998 - the same year the Utes played in the championship game of the NCAA Tournament.
"I was probably never good enough to play there," Johnson said. "But I know I'm good enough as a coach now to come back and help them."
Johnson played three years at Southern Utah - he helped the Thunderbirds win the Mid-Continent Conference championship and reach the NCAA Tournament in 2001 - before transferring to Bemidji State in Minnesota for his final college season. Johnson then began his coaching career at Bemidji, and moved on to Southwest Baptist University in Missouri before joining the Matadors less than a year ago.
"I'm excited," he said. "I've been around Utah basketball when it was at its peak. I know what's possible there. Coach Boylen has a great vision, great passion, and I myself am very passionate about the state. We can get Utah basketball to what it's capable of, not only competing for conference titles but nationally, doing some great things."
Johnson effectively replaces departed assistant coach Marty Wilson, who took a job as the head-coach-in-waiting at his alma mater, Pepperdine. Boylen still is working on finding a replacement for Chris Jones, who left the Utes for a similar job at Utah State.

Arizona State assistant Mark Phelps was hired as Drake's men's basketball coach Monday, replacing Keno Davis.

Phelps' hiring came less than a week after Davis took the Providence job. School officials said Phelps was their top choice.

Phelps recalled hearing from Drake athletic director Sandy Hatfield Clubb.

"One day last week, Sandy called me ... and told me about Drake University, about the Drake experience and immediately I just got excited," Phelps said after his introductory news conference.

"We had another conversation on the phone. I was up here the next day, and now I'm the coach. It was just a whirlwind," he said.

The 42-year-old Phelps spent more than a decade as an assistant to Arizona State coach Herb Sendek, both in Tempe and during Sendek's earlier tenure at North Carolina State. Previously, Phelps was a high school coach in Virginia, compiling a .736 winning percentage over six years at two schools.

He replaces Davis, the first-year coach who led the Bulldogs to one of the best years in school history. Drake compiled a 28-5 record, won the Missouri Valley Conference regular-season and tournament titles and earned the school's first NCAA tournament berth since 1971 and first national ranking in 33 years.

Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press