Duke Blue Devils star Jahlil Okafor and seven Kentucky Wildcats players declared for the 2015 NBA Draft, which will take place on June 25 in New York.

Okafor announced his decision on Thursday just three days after helping Duke win the NCAA National Title against Wisconsin. The 19-year-old center said that playing in the NBA has been a dream since he was six years old and he feels it is now the perfect time to make a jump to the big league.

Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski also said that Okafor made a great decision in joining the draft after playing for just one year with the Blue Devils. He was named to the first-team All-American and was the first freshman from the Atlantic Coast Conference to win the league's player of the year award after averaging 17.3 points and 8.5 rebounds.

"What a great decision," Krzyzewski said of Okafor's decision to enter the draft. "This is a tremendous opportunity for Jahlil and he has earned it. Obviously, he has done an incredible job here at Duke and he will always be a part of our Duke basketball family. We could not be happier for him and his family."

Okafor became the sixth player from Duke to enter the draft after their freshman season, joining Corey Maggette, Luol Deng, Kyrie Irving, Austin Rivers and Jabari Parker on the list. Irving was the first overall pick in 2011, while Parker was drafted second overall last year.

Meanwhile, the Kentucky Wildcats lost their top seven scores after Karl-Anthony Towns, Willie Cauley-Stein, Dakari Johnson, Trey Lyles, Devin Booker, Andrew Harrison and Aaron Harrison decided to forgo their remaining playing years in college to turn professional this year.

The seven Wildcats announced their decision in a news conference led by Kentucky coach John Calipari, who said that all his players made the tough decision for the best interest of their respective careers.

"It's about each individual making the decision, not based on what's right for this university, not based on what's right for me and our staff, but what's right for them and their families," Calipari said.

Towns, who averaged 10.3 points to go along with 6.7 rebounds and 2.3 blocks per game this season, could be the first overall pick this year. The 19-year-old forward is projected to be taken first in most mock drafts, including ESPN insider Chad Ford's Big Board and Draft Express' mock draft.

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