Abdur-Rahim Leaving, NCAA Coming In at Cal

After two months of confusion and flip-flops, and just before the announcement of a preliminary NCAA investigation into potential recruiting violations at California, freshman forward Shareef Abdur-Rahim told school officials that he will take his game to the NBA.

“He’s going into the draft,” Cal Coach Todd Bozeman said Friday. “He pretty much said it last night.”

Abdur-Rahim, who was last season’s Pacific 10 Conference player of the year and scoring leader, announced in the spring his intention to bypass his final three years of eligibility but reconsidered and said he would return to Cal.

But he never sent a request to remove his name from the draft list and apparently decided this week to go ahead with his NBA plans.

Even if he is selected in Wednesday’s draft, Abdur-Rahim could choose to return to school as long as he doesn’t sign with an agent or with the team that selects him. But that team would retain his rights for a year after he leaves school, and it is unlikely Abdur-Rahim would return to school if he is selected in the top five in the draft.

Two Bay Area newspapers reported that the Vancouver Grizzlies, who have the No. 3 pick, probably will select Abdur-Rahim if he isn’t taken by the Toronto Raptors at No. 2.

Meanwhile, Cal announced Friday afternoon it has received a preliminary letter of investigation from the NCAA, involving possible recruiting violations.

Cal officials said the investigation could take six to nine months.

“There’s not a whole lot I can comment on that [letter],” Bozeman told the Associated Press. “Nothing will come of that.”

Cal would not elaborate on the allegations, which were brought by former Bear guard Jelani Gardner, who has transferred to Pepperdine. If Cal is put on probation, Gardner may not have to serve his one-year waiting period before being eligible.

Also, the San Francisco Chronicle reported that Bozeman, a close friend of new New Jersey Net Coach John Calipari, is talking with the team about an assistant coaching job. But Bozeman said he is not planning to leave the school.

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Times staff writer Tim Kawakami contributed to this story.