June 1, 2004

LAS VEGAS - UNLV junior forward Odartey Blankson has withdrawn from consideration for the 2004 NBA Draft and will return to UNLV for his senior year (2004-05). Blankson did not hire an agent and therefore retains his final year of collegiate eligibility.

"Having the opportunity to see where I stood was a good experience for me the last few weeks," Blankson said. "However, it is in my best interest to come back to UNLV for my senior year and play for Coach (Lon) Kruger and his staff. There are a lot of things in my game I can work on and there are a lot of things I have to learn. I am looking forward to coming back and working with my coaches and my teammates. We are in a great situation and I am going to enjoy my senior season."

Blankson, who transferred to UNLV from Marquette, sat out the 2002-03 season at UNLV because of NCAA transfer rules, before playing for the Runnin' Rebels this past season (2003-04). He led UNLV in scoring and rebounding with 17.6 points and 10.2 rebounds per game, respectively, and led the Mountain West Conference in rebounding and was third in scoring.

"This was a good experience for Odartey to have had the opportunity to test the waters," Kruger said. "He has worked extremely hard over the past month and has put himself in position to have an outstanding senior year."

Blankson was selected first team All-MWC, All-District VIII (USBWA) and second team All-District 15 (NABC). He was selected as the MWC Player of the Week on March 8.