T1B

HOUSTON -- Texas A&M football signee Martellus Bennett has dropped out of the NBA draft and will play football and basketball for the Aggies this year, a newspaper reported Tuesday.

Bennett, considered the state's top football recruit, decided in May to explore his chances of being a first-round pick in the draft. But he told The Dallas Morning News for online editions that he would forgo the draft and enroll in classes for the second summer session at A&M.

Bennett has not signed with an agent, allowing him to remain eligible to play for A&M as a freshman.

He didn't immediately return messages left at his Houston home Tuesday afternoon.

Bennett told KRIV-TV in Houston that he didn't want a team to own his draft rights for a year after picking him in the second round. If he had been drafted without an agent, Bennett still would have been eligible to play for Texas A&M.

Tuesday was the deadline to withdraw from next week's NBA draft.

"A lot of teams told me if I come out the next two years, I will be worth more," Bennett said.

At 6-foot-7, 243 pounds, Bennett was ranked the nation's top tight end by the recruiting Web site Rivals.com. He caught 46 passes for 650 yards as a senior at Alief Taylor High School but also excelled in basketball.

Bennett averaged 23 points and 8.2 rebounds as a senior and was considered one of the top players in A&M's highly touted group of basketball recruits.