Billy Preston Signs Contract with Bosnian Club BC Igokea

While waiting to be cleared to play in the NCAA, Billy Preston decided to forgo his college career by signing with BC Igokea Aleksandrovac of the Adriatic League.

ESPN.com's Jeff Borzello reported Preston's mother confirmed the move and that Preston didn't sign with an agent and intends to enter the 2018 NBA draft.

BC Ikogea announced Preston's signing Saturday with a statement from general manager Igor Dodik, via Sportando:

"We are thrilled to welcome Billy Preston to our Club. We watched him when he was in High School at OakHill Academy and in the McDonalds All Star game. We are honored to have such a tremendous talent in our organization. ... We know Billy is an NBA prospect so we will do our best to continue his development to help him excel for our club and fulfill his goal which is to be an NBA star in the near future."

Preston explained why he left Kansas in a statement:

Kansas head coach Bill Self released a statement on the move, per Jesse Newell of the Kansas City Star:

"

Here's Bill Self's statement on Billy Preston: pic.twitter.com/GBtv3FNs0M

— Jesse Newell (@jessenewell) January 20, 2018"

Expected to play a prominent role for Kansas this season, Preston was suspended by Self for the season opener against Tennessee State on Nov. 10 for a violation of team rules.

The following day, Preston was involved in a single-car accident on campus, and the program said it was investigating.

Self told reporters Nov. 14 he didn't know how long Preston would be out or how long the investigation would take:

"When a kid goes to school at your school, you register your car, if he has a car, through the compliance office. He had a minor, no-injury, one-car accident on Saturday that's reported to the compliance office. They started doing the checking on the car. They wanted to get a clearer picture of how some things were done. We couldn't get it cleared up [Tuesday]. That's basically all there is to it."

A 6'10", 240-pound forward from Oak Hill Academy in Virginia, Preston was a prize recruit coming out high school. He was rated as a 5-star prospect and the No. 20 overall player in the 2017 class, per 247Sports.