It might explain some other things too. I'm guessing if the staff knew, the rest of the team had a pretty good idea. Could have contributed to the team's looking and feeling "disjointed" in the ACC and NCAA tournament games--although obviously some other things, like Ryan's injury, contributed to that as well.
It's not true... yet. There appears to be only one accurate report out there - the Herald Sun article that says Mason is exploring his options regarding the draft. Jay Williams then mistakenly tweeted yesterday that Mason is testing the waters based on that article. Then some St. John's undergrad (who somehow gets front page links on NBC's College BBall site) mistakenly tweeted that Mason is going pro.
There's a very real chance that Mason is going pro. But that decision hasn't been made official yet, and might not be made official until next year.
Their stats were pretty close to the same, but Henderson wasn't NBA ready at all. People get on Austin because he won't finish with his left hand, but Gerald couldn't even dribble with his left hand. It's true G was a better finisher than Austin, but he really couldn't shoot outside of 10 feet from the basket, which is usually a problem in the NBA for a guy who is 6'4". His handle was suspect, too. He was a short 2/3 tweener. Austin, on the other hand has a pretty good handle and is a pretty good shooter. He's a decent-sized 1/2 combo guard. Much more ready for the NBA in my opinion.
I think he'll weigh his decision carefully. I don't think it's a done deal, but could be if he's projected high enough.
Right now, some draft boards have him around the 25-30 range.
http://nbadraft.net/2012-big-board-update
I agree, though Henderson did expand his range out to 18+ feet as a junior. He wasn't a great shooter, but he was regularly hitting long jumpers and even made over 1/3 of his 3s as a junior (taking substantially more than he had as an underclassman). But Henderson was certainly less NBA ready than Rivers. Very limited handle, even less passing ability, far inferior shooting touch, even less of a left hand.
Rivers has the potential to expand into a combo guard or even eventually a scoring point guard. Henderson was essentially a small forward in a combo guard's body (he's apparently gotten better).
Henderson had a nice mid-range game, a nice turn-around jumper (which he used going to baseline or coming back to the middle), and he was competent from 3. His handle was suspect, but his ability to elevate was/is far superior to Rivers - so he is able to get his shot off against bigger players. Henderson was also more physically mature when he declared. I think that Henderson could have benefited more from another year than Austin could. Austin's game is suited for the NBA, and he might slip if he plays another year in college. I think Rivers is doing the right thing.
Better athlete, yes. I'd say they're similar defensively (both are pretty good but not game changers defensively).
And yes, I'm quite sure Rivers isn't going to go in the high lottery, so he's likely to go somewhere and sit on the bench (at least early on in his career).
I just wish that Austin's camp will go ahead and confirm the rumors.
I thought Henderson was more versatile and could block shots in addition to getting steals.
Plus, I don't think I ever saw Rivers dunk, ESPECIALLY not in traffic.
Rivers wasn't a terrible defender, but I felt that Henderson had better length and lateral quickness, and definitely had better hops.
It is hard to suggest Austin wasn't our best player this past season and he is definitely gone. With Mason, argueable our second best player testing the water, (likely to go) next year looks like it will be a rebuilding year. This past season we did start out well, but finished poorly at least partly due to Ryan's injury but also due to the unavoidable fact that we weren't a very good defensive team.
Our leadership will come from Seth and Ryan with Tyler there for toughness. Dawkins hasn't distinguished himself either as a leader or for his toughness. I love the Duke team, but realistically we may not be in the top tier of the ACC let alone in the country. We can hope for major development from our red shirts and little played freshmen, but more likely, it will take good recruiting news to make us a contender.
I hope this doesn't sound overly negative, but I thought Austin's play kind of tailed off after his awesome performance in the first UNC game (the whole game, not just the last shot). I wonder if he felt like he had done enough to secure his draftability and so the fire just wasn't there for the rest of the year.
At any rate, with him leaving we can run a more conventional lineup next year. Tyler and Cook can split time at point while Seth plays off the ball. I'm not going to go so far as to say we'll be better off without him, because we won't be, but at least everyone's roles should be a little more well defined. And Shabazz Muhammad, come on down!
I think you may need to temper that - who knows if defections are over? Dust may not be done clearing.
I certainly agree that there is potential for us to be very good next year. But a few more defections + no additional recruits + bad luck (injuries, etc.) could, in a worst-case scenario, leave us well below our accustomed level of success.
(Or we could return everyone else, add a few more recruits, catch a break here and there, and be outstanding - way too early to tell IMO.)