Oklahoma sophomore forward Blake Griffin announced that he will take his game to the NBA, officially declaring for the draft after winning the Naismith Trophy as national player of the year Sunday. Griffin was nearly unanimously regarded as the best player in the country this past season, and many scouting services project him as the No. 1 overall pick in June’s draft. He averaged 22.7 points and 14.4 rebounds per game.

Washington State quickly replaced Tony Bennett by hiring Portland State coach Ken Bone to lead the Cougars. Bone arrives in Pullman after four seasons with the Vikings during which he compiled a 77-49 record and led the team to an NCAA Tournament this past season.

Florida State rewarded Leonard Hamilton with a five-year contract after the Seminoles’ coach led the team to its first NCAA Tournament appearance in more than a decade. Although Florida State reached the tournament only this season, Hamilton has had the Seminoles rising in the ACC in recent years.

Pittsburgh sophomore forward DeJuan Blair will enter the NBA Draft after dominating opponents this past season. Blair averaged 15.7 points and 12.3 rebounds per game.

Nebraska announced that sophomore Cookie Miller and freshman Alonzo Edwards will leave the program to transfer to another school. Miller was the Cornhuskers’ starting point guard this past season.

Butler coach Brad Stevens received a contract extension from the Bulldogs that will keep him on Butler’s sidelines through 2015-16. Stevens became the Bulldogs’ coach in 2007 and, at 31, became the third youngest coach in NCAA history to lead his team to at least 30 wins in a season.

When Tyler Hansbrough, Ty Lawson, Wayne Ellington and Danny Green all decided to return to Chapel Hill after flirting with the NBA Draft last spring, they had one mission in mind: Win the national championship. With a relentless effort, those four led North Carolina to an 89-72 win against Michigan State in the NCAA championship game.

Arizona got its man the second time around as Xavier coach Sean Miller accepted the Wildcats’ head coaching position today. The Wildcats initially sought USC coach Tim Floyd, who rebuffed the Cats to remain with the Trojans.

Memphis seeks to continue its current success under former coach John Calipari by hiring one of his assistants, Josh Pastner, to replace him as head coach. Calipari left Memphis last week to become Kentucky’s head coach

Nevada rewarded David Carter’s 10 years of valuable service as an assistant by hiring him as the Wolf Pack’s next head coach. Carter replaces Mark Fox, who left Reno to take Georgia’s head coaching position. The Wolf Pack’s job will Carter’s first head coaching experience after working as an assistant at Eastern Washington, St. Mary’s and Nevada for the past 14 years.