PULLMAN, Wash. – Washington State University junior forward Robert Franks announced today that he will declare for the 2018 NBA Draft, but won't hire an agent at this time, in order to maintain his NCAA eligibility. 

"I've grown a lot in my three years at WSU," Franks said. "I'm excited at the thought of playing at the next level and want to test out the process and see what opportunities lay ahead for me. I'm not going to hire an agent just yet, I want to get some feedback and see what I can potentially do."

Men's basketball student-athletes are afforded the opportunity to put their name into the draft process, but maintain their collegiate eligibility as long as they don't hire an agent, and declare by April 22. The NBA Draft Combine runs May 16-20, and players who have not hired agents have until June 11 to make a final decision to return to school or remain in the draft. The NBA Draft will take place June 21. Declaring for the draft allows Franks the chance to be invited to the combine and/or to private workouts for NBA teams and to receive feedback from NBA executives on those workouts.

"Robert has done a great job for us and has grown tremendously in this system," WSU head coach Ernie Kent said. "I wish him well as he goes through the process of evaluating his potential to get drafted."

Franks led WSU and ranked seventh in the Pac-12 with 17.4 points per game, along with a team second-best and Pac-12 15th-best 6.6 rebounds per game. A native of Vancouver, Wash., Franks shot .405 (66-for-163) from beyond the 3-point arc. At the conclusion of the season he was named the Pac-12 Most Improved Player of the Year and all-conference honorable mention after nearly tripling his point total from his sophomore year in which he averaged 6.3 points and 3.3 rebounds per game in just 16.4 minutes per outing. His .854 (105-for-123) free throw percentage led the league and ranks 60th nationally and he set the school single-game record with 10 3-pointers in WSU's victory over California, Jan. 13.