LAWRENCE, Kan. -- Kansas men's basketball player Mario Chalmers plans to enter the NBA draft but will not hire an agent, so he can return to Kansas if he decides to do that later, Chalmers said in a news conference Wednesday.

"I had to think about it a long time," Chalmers said. "I sat down with Coach (Bill) Self a couple of times already and we talked about it, and I'm just going to go out there and give it a try."

Chalmers, a junior from Anchorage, Ala., hit a 3-point shot to send Kansas into overtime and an eventual victory over Memphis for the NCAA National Championship title.

Dubbed "Super Mario," he was featured on the cover of "Sports Illustrated," making the game-tying bucket.

Chalmers said he believed he could picked between 25th and 35th in the draft, but Self said he believed Chalmers could "play himself higher than that" in the NBA workouts.

"I think Mario could play himself up higher than that," Self said. "He could play himself up to be a top 20 pick. I think we should all be excited for him and the opportunities that will present themselves when the time is right."

Kansas players Brandon Rush and Darrell Arthur declared themselves eligible for the NBA draft less than two weeks after leading the Jayhawks to their second national title in 20 years.

Rush was set to enter the NBA draft a year ago but injured his knee during a pickup game and withdrew his name. The 6-foot-6 junior guard averaged a team-best 13.3 points this season, helping Kansas to its third national championship overall.

By declaring for the draft a second time, Rush loses his college eligibility.

Arthur has not signed with an agent, meaning he can return to Kansas. The 6-foot-9 sophomore forward tied Chalmers as Kansas' second-leading scorer this season at 12.8 points per game and was second with 6.2 rebounds.

"Brandon is at a point in time that it's time for him to move on, and Shady (Arthur) is at a point in time where he deserves, he owes it to himself to investigate, because I think that he could obviously be a very high draft pick if, in fact, things go right, so there's nothing negative or there's no surprises with what's transpiring today," coach Bill Self said.