Originally Posted by
johnb
For 2020, it seems clear that our top 2 guys are gone.
i also think Stanley is gone. He has NBA athleticism and has been playing with pro players for years. He has a dad who’s a longtime sports agent (including being the first African-American agent to represent the 1st pick in the NFL draft). He strikes me as psychologically and physically ready to play with NBA men. Plus, he’ll be 21 in August, which makes him older than Zion or Barrett. One could argue that he is academically oriented (he started at Harvard-Westlake, which is one of the more academic high schools in the country), but that variable has not been a deciding factor since the days of Battier and Williams. He could have cemented a 1st round spot in the next few weeks, but I’d guess he’ll do that at the combine, where he’ll set the all-time record for vertical leap in a hazmat suit.
It may not be a coincidence that all 3 of those guys have 1st degree relatives who’ve earned serious paychecks from pro sports.
John B, I could also argue the flip side in these three cases -- ain't no one at home saying, "We need the money -- now," so they can make a professional decision on what's best for them or, heaven forfend, what they would personally prefer to do. Tre and Vernon will leave, but I have some hopes for Cassius sticking around another year.
Sage Grouse
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'When I got on the bus for my first road game at Duke, I saw that every player was carrying textbooks or laptops. I coached in the SEC for 25 years, and I had never seen that before, not even once.' - David Cutcliffe to Duke alumni in Washington, DC, June 2013