After a freshman season in which he provided Duke with its most enduring memory of the year, Austin Rivers announced Monday that he will hire an agent and enter the 2012 NBA draft.

“I would like to thank the coaches, my teammates and the fans for helping make this past year at Duke so special,” Rivers said in a release provided by Duke. “Coach K and the rest of the staff really helped me develop and improve in all areas of the game.

“It was a difficult decision to leave Duke, but I am excited about chasing my dream of playing in the NBA.”

via Jack Daly and Rick Bonnell of the News Observer