Huskies’ Dejounte Murray, Marquese Chriss each declare for NBA draft, will not return in 2016-17

Washington’s two freshmen stars will not return to the Huskies for their sophomore seasons.

Dejounte Murray and Marquese Chriss, UW’s second and third-leading scorers in 2015-16, announced on Wednesday afternoon that they will leave the Huskies to enter this summer’s NBA draft. The school announced that each player will hire representation, officially ending their college eligibility.

Murray, a 6-foot-4 guard who starred at Seattle’s Rainier Beach High School, averaged 16.1 points, 6.0 rebounds and 4.4 assists per game this season and was named to the Pac-12’s All-Freshmen team. Chriss, a 6-foot-9 forward from Sacramento, California, averaged 13.7 points and 5.4 rebounds per game.

Murray, Chriss and outgoing senior guard Andrew Andrews combined to account for 60.5 percent of the team’s scoring and 42.8 percent of its rebounding.

ESPN’s Chad Ford projects each as a first-round pick, and currently ranks Chriss the 9th-best prospect in the 2016 draft class. UW coach Lorenzo Romar said during an interview with Sports Radio KJR 950 AM on Tuesday that “NBA people” have told him both players would be selected in the first round if they declared.

Their departure leaves the Huskies with 10 scholarships filled for the 2016-17 season -- seven returning players who played this season, redshirting Auburn transfer Matthew Atewe, redshirting freshman center Sam Timmins, and incoming five-star guard Markelle Fultz.

This story was originally published March 23, 2016 at 5:35 PM with the headline "Huskies’ Dejounte Murray, Marquese Chriss each declare for NBA draft, will not return in 2016-17."