Junior forward Eric Moreland announced via Twitter on Saturday that he would enter his name in June's NBA draft and forgo his final season of eligibility in Corvallis.
The announcement doesn't come as much of a surprise as he has been down in Houston working out instead of at school since the season ended on March 19. Group that with his half-season suspension handed down earlier in the year and the fact he nearly left Oregon State last March, this is a move that the coaching staff was suspecting. While he likely won't be selected in the NBA draft, his solid 2013-14 campaign should result in an invitation to a Summer League roster, or at least a nice contract to play over in Europe.
Moreland signed with UTEP in January of 2010 and while he couldn't play for the final three months of that season, he did practice with the Miners. He then chose to transfer to Oregon State after his former coach Tony Barbee left and took a job at Auburn.
The NCAA cleared him to play immediately due to what they called "special circumstances", but Moreland's first season ended after four games when he landed awkwardly on his left shoulder in a game at Colorado. The NCAA granted him a medical hardship before the 2011-12 season, meaning he still had four years of eligibility reamining. He enjoyed a breakout year in 2012-13, increasing his averages to 9.4 PPG and 10.6 RPG. The redshirt sophomore also became a shot-blocking force along with Devon Collier, which gave the Beavers a heavy post presence on the defensive end of the floor. This made the athletic big decide to, in his words, "test the waters", after the season, even though there is no such a thing anymore.
As a junior, Moreland's overall averages went down, save for the blocks per game column. This can largely be attributed to needing a few games after returning from his 12 game suspension to get back into the swing of things. He did have some incredible games, including a 17 point, 15 rebound performance against Stanford, a 17 and 10 game at Oregon, and a 23 point, 11 rebound showing in his final collegiate game against Radford. Moreland leaves Oregon State as the school's leading shot-blocker.