Karcher To Enter NBA Draft

PHILADELPHIA (April 12) - Mark Karcher of the Temple University men's basketball team

announced today that he would forego his senior year at Temple and make

himself available for the National Basketball Association draft in June.

Karcher, a 6-5, 215-pound forward, averaged 15.8 ppg. and 4.6 rpg in the

1999-00 season. He helped the Owls to a 27-6 record last season and a No. 2

seed in the NCAA Tournament. The Baltimore, Md. native led Temple in scoring

28 times last season, including his most prolific output against Wake Forest

on Dec. 4, 1999 when he scored a career-high 33 points. He also connected on

a team high 82 three-pointers in 1999-00, ranking fourth on the Owls' single

season three-point made chart.

In two seasons at Temple, Karcher led the Owls to back-to-back appearances

in the NCAA Tournament, including a trip to the Elite Eight in 1998-99. Head

Coach John Chaney's Owls were 51-17 (75 percent) in Karcher's two seasons.

He appeared in a total of 67 games and started 63, missing only one game due

to an injury last season. He scored a total of 972 points for his two-year

career, an average of 14.5 ppg.

A graduate of St. Frances Academy in Baltimore, Md., Karcher was named a

McDonald's All-America in high school. He sat out the 1997-98 season under

NCAA guidelines while attending Temple as a freshman.

The NBA draft is scheduled for June 28 in Minneapolis.

Temple University Athletics