Returning to school paying title dividends
Posted: Monday, April 06, 2009 11:26 PM
Filed Under:
NBA draft, Final Four (2009)
Thinking about the NBA draft? Take some advice from Mr. T: Stay in school.
Just ask North Carolina, Kansas or Florida. There’s never been a better time to come back and win a title.
Gregory Shamus/Getty |
From left, Wayne Ellington, Tyler Hansbrough, Danny Green
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“We came back to accomplish something,” UNC senior Danny Green said after beating Michigan State on Sunday. “We had to make some sacrifices. We had to give up a lot of individual things to make this work. I think we did a great job the whole season of being selfless and sharing the ball with each other and sacrificing.”
The Tar Heels’ quartet of Tyler Hansbrough, Ty Lawson, Wayne Ellington and Green were just the latest group of players to put their professional careers on hold and have it result in NCAA glory. If college coaches are smart, they’re gathering their players and telling them that they too could win it all.
Prime examples for next year:
Wake Forest
James Johnson says he’s going pro, but Jeff Teague and Al-Farouq Aminu are thinking about staying put. Convince Johnson to do the same and the Deacs will have one of the most talented rosters next season.
Purdue
JaJuan Johnson is a future star, while Robbie Hummel and E’Twaun Moore could be serviceable pros. All three should stay put.
Kansas
Cole Aldrich could be a lottery pick. If he returns, the Jayhawks could be the preseason favorites. KU coach Bill Self is one guy who’s seen the benefit of guys returning to school – even if it took a lucky break.
Brandon Rush was set on entering the 2007 NBA draft when he tore his ACL. He withdrew, rehabbed his knee and helped the ‘Hawks to the 2008 crown. And he loved every bit of it.
“It just feels good right now, just coming from what I had, ACL surgery, coming back and giving my teammates a Final Four — I mean a championship,” Rush said.
Florida made big headlines the year before when its core – Joakim Noah, Al Horford, Corey Brewer and Taurean Green – made a group decision to try and make history as repeat champs. When they pulled it off, it cemented that Gators group as one of the NCAA’s great teams of the modern era.
“We’re a team. We always stick together. It’s what we came back to do. We won back-to-back,” Brewer said.
Maybe the hardest part of returning to school is dealing with expectations.
Carolina entered this season ranked No. 1. It dominated early on, raising the possibility of going undefeated. That kind of pressure isn’t easy to handle.
“A lot of outside people were saying we have to win it all or it’s going to be a failure,” Hansbrough said Monday. “Well, you know what? It’s not a failure. We came back to win a championship. We did and we got the job done.”
And just think, all it took was passing on the NBA for a year.
