ESPN Men's Basketball

Louisville lost its second prized recruit in less than a week Friday, when junior college forward Donta Smith announced he had entered his name in the NBA draft.

"It's always been my dream in life as a basketball player," Smith said in a telephone interview with the Louisville Courier-Journal. "I decided the opportunity is now."

The decision by Smith, a 6-7 small forward from Southeastern Illinois College, caught Louisville completely off-guard and drew swift criticism from coach Rick Pitino.

Earlier this week, Pitino had publicly supported the decision to enter the draft by another signee, Sebastian Telfair of Brooklyn-Abraham Lincoln, N.Y. But Pitino reacted with shock when he learned of Smith's decision and disagreed with the move.

"It could be one of the five worst moves I've ever seen," Pitino told the paper.

"If it's the right decision, I'll tell a player I have no problem with it. This one I totally disagree with. Somebody is giving him advice who doesn't know anything about the game of basketball. When young people listen to the wrong people, they almost always make poor decisions."

Smith, who averaged 25 points this season and does not have an agent, is projected as a second round pick, if even drafted, according to Bill Hodge of CollegeSports.com.

Pitino told the paper that Cardinals assistant coach Vince Taylor had visited Southeastern Illinois twice in the past 10 days to check on Smith's academic progress. But Smith gave no indication during those visits that he was considering making himself eligible for the draft.

"This was very poor judgment," Pitino said. "He never called and discussed it with me. I couldn't be more upset with the player, and I'm very, very disappointed with the (junior-college) coach. That's as poor a leadership from the coach as I've ever seen.

"It's disappointing for (Smith), because he had a bright future ahead of him if he'd made the right decision."

When told of Pitino's comments, Smith said, "Yeah, it probably was a bad move on my part. I guess I just see things differently."

Smith told the paper he has not hired an agent, so can pull out of the draft without jeopardizing his college eligibility, but he says a return to college is unlikely.

"I'm really solid (on going pro)," Smith told the Courier-Journal.

Smith told the paper he had planned on attending Louisville until the beginning of this week, when he submitted his paperwork to the NBA. He said that a few people had tried to talk him out of going pro, but that most of his friends and family were in favor of the move.

"It was kind of hard, because I really wanted to go to Louisville," he said. "But I just had to follow my heart."